Between Two Malfoys
by Likuts
Summary: Hermione Granger was facing Draco Malfoy only a few seconds ago. Now she finds herself in front of young Lucius Malfoy of 1976. Not knowing how to go back to her own time, what will she do? DH spoilers.
1. Chapter 1: Collision

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character.**

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Chapter 1: Collision

Hermione was alone in an empty corridor. Carefully looking around to make sure nobody was around, she took out a small hourglass hanging on a gold chain. As she was about to turn her time-turner, she heard a familiar voice behind her back.

"What are you doing here, Granger?"

It was Draco Malfoy. Hermione reluctantly faced him, tucking the time-turner beneath her robe.

"Nothing of your concern."

"No, you just hid something underneath your robe. Hmm...I presume it is something against the school rules and I think I have a right to know what you are hiding as I am the Head Boy."

Hermione bit her lips. Time-turner was not exactly against school rules since Professor McGonagall gave her the permission to use it; Hermione had a trouble fitting all the courses she needed --or thought she needed-- to take in her schedule. However, she had promissed McGonagall to keep it secret, even from Harry or Ron.

"Quick, Granger, or I will take points off from your House for disobeying the Head Boy."

"In case you forgot, I am the Head Girl, and you shouldn't treat me like this."

Draco gave a glare at Hermione as he approached her.

"In case you forgot, I need not to show any respect to a filthy Mudblood."

Hermione, full of fury, raised her right arm to slap Malfoy in the face; however, her movement only enabled Draco to catch a gold glimpse around her neck. Without thinking twice, he seized it.

"What's this, Miss Head Girl? A time-turner?"

"Let go of it. I got the permission to use it."

"Like I will believe that! No student is allowed to use a time-turner."

Draco, although knew what the function of a time-turner was, did not seem to know how it operated. He carelessly turned the hourglass over and over again with curiosity in his eyes.

"Stop it, Malfoy! You are not supposed to turn it that many times!"

Draco stopped immediately, sensing that something was going wrong, but it was already too late. Hermione felt her body being drawn in to deep darkness, as well as Draco pulling the gold chain around her neck, in an effort to bring her back. The last thing she heard was Draco screaming,

"No, Granger!"

CLASH!

"Ouch!"

Hermione collided with someone and fell to the ground immediately; she heard something being shattered onto the hard stone-floor.

"What the--"

Hermione glanced up and saw a boy with blond hair and pale, pointed face.

"Malfoy! Could you be more careful for you are the Head Boy this year! And I told you to let go of my time...oh my God."

Hermione's face darkened as she found the broken pieces of her time-turner. The gold chain was also broken, only half of it laying on the floor.

"Oh my God, it's broken. Oh no."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Shut up, Malfoy! It's all your fault! Oh no...what will Professor McGonagall say if I tell her that it's broken?"

"HEY, CALM DOWN!"

Hermione turned her face upward and was shocked to death.

It was not Malfoy. To be correct, it was not Draco Malfoy. The boy standing in front of her had longer hair which reached upon his shoulders, and piercing blue eyes which were obviously different from the grey eyes of Draco's. In shock, Hermione asked,

"Oh my God, who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Gold Chain

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character.**

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Chapter 2: The Gold Chain 

"Well, that's the question I want to ask, actually," said the blond guy, "and you seem to know my name already, despite the fact that I've never seen you before."

Hermione lost her words. She must be dreaming. This couldn't be true. She was facing young Lucius Malfoy.

"Uh, I...I..."

Hermione tried to get up quickly but it caused her to accidently kneel on the shattered glass pieces.

"Ah!!" she let out a cry of pain.

"Hey, are you okay? _Reparo!"_

Lucius quickly fixed the time-turner but it still bore a few cracks on its surface.

"You—whatever your name is— need to come to the Hospital Wing with me"

"No, no—Dumbledore. I need to see Dumbledore."

"But you're bleeding...!"

"Dumbledore!"

"Okay! Damn it, why do I have to... What _is_ your name, anyway?!" asked Lucius as he helped Hermione getting up.

"Hermione. Hermione Gr...er...Grandel."

"And Hermione Grandel, how on earth do you know me?"

"Er...I...I don't really know you... You look like someone I know."

"And his name is Malfoy?" asked Lucius suspiciously.

"Yes...but it's his first name..."

"First name? Malfoy?"

"In, in the Muggle-world, it's quite a common name...I think..."

Even Hermione herself knew that her story was lame, but she couldn't think of anything else. It would have caused more suspicion if she said she knew a wizard whose last name was Malfoy. Pureblood families would know their family members very well.

"In...the Muggle-world? You mean you are a..."

"Yes, I'm a Muggle-born. Any problem?" snapped Hermione.

Lucius looked at Hermione as if she carried some kind of plague. He immediately lifted his hands off from her arms.

"Damn it, a Mudblood—"

He looked thoroughly disgusted but sighed and said to Hermione,

"If I weren't the Head Boy, I would never take you to Dumbledore."

Hermione wanted to yell at him that she could go there by herself, but realized that the pain in her knees was unbearable.

"Like_ I_ want to be taken by you, Malfoy."

Igonring the glare from Lucius, she silently put the cracked time-turner into her pocket.

_'How can I go back to my time without a time-turner? And where is the rest of the gold chain?'_

Back in 1998, Draco Malfoy stood dumbly in the empty corridor with the broken half of the gold chain in his hand.

"Granger...?"

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**A/N: Sorry, this chapter is a little bit short. I promise the next one will be longer. The story is set in 1998, but Voldemort has already been killed; thus Harry, Ron and Hermione are happily enjoying their 7th year at Hogwart. I know it sounds crappy but I'm not really good at this kind of plot, so I just made up various things, such as that Lucius is in the same year as the**** Marauders****. That's the beauty of fanfiction, isn't it?;)**


	3. Chapter 3: A Possible Solution

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character.**

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Chapter 3: A Possible Solution

"Chocolate Fudge," said Lucius and the gargoyle statues slided to sides to let them in to Dumbledore's office. Lucius knocked on the door and the voice inside welcomed them.

"Come in."

As Hermione entered the room, she felt familiar warmth in her stomach. She was back in Dumbledore's office. She felt a pang in her heart as she thought of the deceased former Headmaster of her own time. Although everything was planned, it was still sad that he was gone. The magic world still missed him a great deal.

"Headmaster, this is Hermione Grandel and I found her in an empty corridor. I tried to take her to the Hospital Wing but she insisted on coming to see you, so I brought her here."

"Hospital Wing?"

Dumbledore looked at Hermione's bleeding knees and healed the wounds with a few charms. Before Hermione could thank him, Dumbledore said,

"I see you have made the right choice coming to me instead of going to Madame Pomfrey. She would have made you stay over the night just to make sure you would be able to walk properly again."

Dumbledore chuckled at his own joke, and as much as Hermione wanted to laugh, she only smiled lightly, still feeling the sadness from missing Dumbledore in the future. She stepped forward and began talking.

"Professor, I know you don't know me, but I know you, and you are the only one who can help me in this situation."

Dumbledore carefully listened to Hermione, then gave a quick glace at Lucius.

"Not even our Head Boy Mr. Malfoy?"

Hermione almost forgot that it was Lucius who brought her up to Dumbledore's office; he was standing behind Hermione, not knowing exactly what to do next.

"Oh, er...no...not him, sir."

"Okay, then, Mr. Malfoy, would you be kind enough to leave us alone?"

Although slightly offended by being rejected to be in the room, Lucius politely nodded to Dumbledore and left the room. As soon as Lucius was out of the room, Hermione hurriedly said,

"Sir, you may think it's absurd, but what I'm now going to tell you is absolutely true."

Hermione took out the cracked time-turner and the broken gold chain and put them on Dumbledore's desk. His sapphire-blue eyes twinkled at the sight of them.

"I'm from the future, the year 1998."

* * *

Back in 1998, Draco Malfoy was also in the same room as Hermione, although the only difference was that he was talking to McGonagall instead of Dumbledore. 

"Could you please say that again, Mr. Malfoy?" asked McGonagall whose face was white as a sheet.

"I, I turned the hourglass without really knowing how many times I turned..."

"Oh no, this can't be true."

McGonagall let out a heavy sigh and turned to Dumbledore's portrait.

"What should I do, Albus? I have never dealt with this kind of situation in my life. What should I do to bring Miss Granger back?"

Feeling almost being ignored by McGonagall, Draco started fidgeting with the gold chain he had in his hands; Dumbledore's eyes didn't miss it.

"Ah, Draco, what is that in your hands?"

Draco started slightly at his first name being called by the old man in the portrait.

'_Just as he called me at that night_,' thought Draco.

"It's...it's Granger's, sir. When she...disappeared, I seized it and it broke off..."

"Interesting."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Albus, do you think it could be a solution, perhaps? If Miss Granger still has the rest of the chain, maybe we could communicate to her in someway!"

"That's certainly a possiblity."

McGonagall turned her face to Draco and said sternly,

"Mr.Malfoy, you need to leave this chain in my office for further examination. And as you are the Head Boy this year, could you tell the news about Miss Granger to her close friends?"

At McGonagall's last words, Draco frowned.

"You don't mean Pott―"

"Yes, to Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, that is."

Draco grunted silently, for McGonagall's decision was absurd.

_'I have to tell it to Potter and Weasley? They would kill me if they learn what I did!'_

Reluctantly, Draco put the gold chain on McGonagall's desk and left the office. Too busy thinking ahout how to break the news to Harry and Ron, he did not notice that Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling again.


	4. Chapter 4: A Little Souvenir

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

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Chapter 4: A Little Souvenir 

"The year 1998?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir. I had this time-turner that I got from Professor McGonagall."

"From Minerva?"

"Yes, she's the Head of my House and she gave the permission to use it to arrange my class schedule this year."

"Ah ha, so you're a Gryffindor."

"And I was the Head Girl," said Hermione with a little bit of pride in her voice.

"And what has caused you to come to 1976, Miss Grandel?"

"Uh, well, it's all because of Malfoy—I mean, not Lucius Malfoy but his son Draco—oops."

Hermione quickly covered her mouth but it was too late.

_'Shoot! I'm not supposed to reveal anything about the future!'_

"Mr. Malfoy's son?" asked Dumbledore, with curiosity in his eyes.

"Yes...sir..." anwered Hermione, frowning at her own stupidity.

"And what did Mr. Drao Malfoy do?"

"He...well, I was in an empty corridor trying to use the time-turner, but Malfoy caught me. Of course I hid it because I promised Professor McGonagall that I'd keep it a secret. And when Malfoy saw that I hid something, he naturally wanted to see what it was because he was the Head Boy—" Hermione bit her bottom lip when she realized that she slipped another information about the future, but decided to continue. "And when he found my time-turner, he started to play with it, obviously not knowing what he was doing. Then I found myself with Malfoy—Lucius Malfoy, this time— and we collided, which caused my time-turner to shatter."

Hermione's face darkened as she looked down at the half-fixed time-turner on Dumbledor'e desk.

"Lucius Malfoy tried to fix it but since the damage was so severe—"

Tears flooded Hermione's eyes as she thought of her being stuck in the past forever. Dumbledore got up to his feet and patted on her back.

"Oh, don't be so worried, Miss Grandel. I'm sure we'll be able to find some way to send you back to your time."

Hermione jerked up at Dumbledore's words.

"What do you mean, Professor? You, you don't how to get me back?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"No, Miss Grandel. A case like yours is not very common; in fact, it is very, very rare."

"Then what should I do until we figure the way out? I can't possibly waste my time here— I have NEWT coming up and—"

"Maybe you could pretend that you're a new student at Hogwart and continue your study, while I search for the solution to send you back."

Dark shadow cast over Hermione's face. She let out a heavy sigh but knew that there was no other way.

"Okay, that sounds the best. I can't afford to lose any more time. The reason Professor McGonagall allowed me to use the time-turner was so that I could take all the classes I needed."

"Calm down, calm down, Miss Grandel. maybe you could think it as a vacation of some sort. Just relax and try not to stress yourself over this matter _or_ NEWT."

"But—"

Hermione tried to protest but Dumbledore cut across.

"Now, it is the time for dinner. Why don't you go down to the Great Hall and join the Gryffindor table? I will inform Professor McGonagall that she has a new student in her House."

When Hermione heard the word "dinner," she suddenly realized that how hungry she had been. It was past eight. She hasn't eaten anything since lunch.

"Professor Dumbledore?" asked Hermione as she turned around to leave.

"Yes, Miss Grandel?"

"Er...do you want me to take the time-turner or should I leave it here?"

"Ah, that is a good question. Hmm, let me think... I will keep the time-turner but you may take the gold chain— as a little souvenir, perhaps." Dumbledore smiled softly.

_'Like I want to be reminded that I'm stuck in the past for God knows how long_,' thought Hermione but didn't say anything to Dumbledore; instead, she politely said "Thank You" and left the room quietly.

She came down from Dumbledore's office and started walking toward the Great Hall. She stared down at the gold chain in her hand.

_'Malfoy grabbed the chain before I disappeared. Does it mean he has the broken half?'_

Deep in thought, Hermione didn't notice the loud footsteps behind her.

"Oi, James! Wait for me!"

"Shut up and just run, Sirius! I'm starving! I had Quidditch practice for over two hours—hey, watch out!"

CLASH!

_'Oh my—this sure is a rough day_,' though Hermione, cursing under her breath. Then she felt someone's hand on her left shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Hermione looked up and gasped.

"Harry!"

The black-haired guy with glasses grinned.

"No, this is James, beautiful."

"Oi, James, I'm gonna tell Lily about that, you know." said the other guy.

"Oh, you gotta be joking! This is just courtesy!"

Hermione's jaw dropped. She was starting to believe that she was just having a huge nightmare, for she was now facing young James Potter and Sirius Black.

"Hey, are you alright?" James asked again. "Did you hit your head on the floor?"

"I'm quite alright!" replied Hermione, hurriedly getting up from the floor.

She stared at the two guys in front of her: one looked exactly like one of her best friend, Harry, except for his eyes; the other looked extremly handsome and youthful, so much unlike from Sirius Black she knew. As she thought of dead Sirius in her time, tears started to fill in her eyes.

"Er...are you crying?" asked Sirius, looking at Hermione worriedly.

Before Hermione could make a reply, another voice behind them turned away their attention from her.

"James Potter, I can't believe you! You choose food over _me_?!"

Hermione gasped again; there was young Lily Potter in front of her eyes. James put his arms around Lily playfully and kissed her on cheek.

"No, of course not! I was just extremely hungry, that's all. How can I choose anything over _you_, love?"

Lily giggled and kissed James softly; then, she noticed that there was another person in the party, whom she has never seen before.

"Who's this?" asked Lily, looking at Hermione's direction.

"We don't know." shrugged James. "I bumped into her, and when I asked if she was alright, she just stared at Sirius and started crying."

"Are you hurt?" asked Lily, stepping closer to Hermione. Hermione wiped tears out from her eyes and shook her head.

"Oh no, I'm fine. It's just...never mind. I'm alright."

"Have I seen you before at Hogwart?"

"Er...I'm a new student. I've just arrived."

"Oh, really?" Lily held out her hand to Hermione. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lily Evans. If you have any question about our school, just ask me. I'm the Head Girl."

"Thank you, Lily. I'm Hermione Grandel." said Hermione, shaking Lily's hand.

"Have you been sorted to a House already?"

"Yes, I'm in Gryffindor."

"Oh, that's great! I'm in Gryffindor, too. All of us are, actually."

Sirius and James, sensing that it was about the time to introduce themselves, stepped forward and held out their hands.

"Hi, I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black."

"Hi, James. Hi, Sirius." Hermione shook their hands, too.

After their introduction to each other was done, James looked at his watch and said loudly,

"Okay, are we all settled? Then let's go and eat!"

James and Sirius started running, and Lily walked fast to catch up with them, dragging Hermione with her. As Hermione entered Great Hall, she wished that her _new _school would be as good as her old one.


	5. Chapter 5: Beyond the Blue Eyes

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character.**

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**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, everyone! Reviews make me happy!:D

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Chapter 5: Beyond the Blue Eyes

It was never easy for Draco to face Harry and Ron after being saved by them not only once but twice. It was embarrassing to see their faces, for he had revealed himself to be so vulnerable, and mainly because― although he didn't want to admit it to himself― he felt small gratitude toward them.

_'Only if it wasn't my_ _fault, '_ thought Draco when he found Harry and Ron wandering around in front of the library; obviously, they were looking for Hermione. He took a deep breath and called them.

"Oi, Potter! Weasley!"

Harry and Ron turned around and were apparently surprised to find out who called them.

"What is it, Malfoy?" asked Harry awkwardly. If it was uncomfortable for Draco to face Harry, so was he, if not more. He was not exactly sure how their relationship was supposed to be now, for he has saved Draco's life twice during the battle. _Were they supposed to be friends or were they still enemies?_ This was the question that Harry couldn't answer.

Draco hesitated for a while because he knew how Harry and Ron would react to the news he was going to tell them, but he finally made up his mind.

"I have something to tell you about Granger."

"If you're going to tell us that she has been missing all evening, we are already aware of that," said Harry in a tone that was not very cold but not soft either.

"No, actually I was going to tell _why _Granger is missing."

"And how do _you _know that? " asked Ron suspiciously.

"Er..."

Taking another deep breath, Draco began telling what had happened earlier that evening.

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Back in 1976, Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table with James, Sirius and Lily, and was now joined by two more people. 

"Hi, Hermione. I'm Remus. Remus Lupin."

Remus smiled softly as he shook Hermione's hand. Hermione's eyes were filled with tears again.

_'Oh my God. I wish I had brought Harry with me here,'_ thought Hermione, trying to control her emotions.

"Hi, Remus, it's so nice to see you agai...I mean, nice to meet you."

"And this is Peter Pettigrew," said Sirius, patting on Peter's head; Peter was at least an inch shorter than him. Hermione could feel her whole body stiffened as she shook Peter's hand. Although she tried not to show her hatred toward him, she couldn't help speaking to him rather coldy.

"Hi, Peter, pleasure."

After the introduction was done, Hermione began eating. However, Dumbledore appeared at the teacher's table and raised his hand, and everyone looked at him, wondering what announcement he would make.

"Good evening, students," spoke the Headmaster. "I have an announcement to make." Then he turned his face to Hermione and pointed at her. "Do you see this new, young lady over there? Her name is Hermione Grandel, and she has just arrived at Hogwart today to join the seventh year. Could you give her a loud applause, please?"

Students greeted Hermione with loud applause, and she felt like her face was on fire. Sirius noticed this and nudged her on the side.

"What a way to start at a new school, huh?"

"Oh, shut up," replied Hermione with her face in the colour of Ron's hair.

Trying to hide from the curious crowd, she didn't notice the pair of blue eyes watching her from the opposite end of the Hall.

* * *

"I'll kill you!" shouted Ron as he jumped off from his seat. His voice echoed in the empty classroom. 

"You! You Malfoy! Ferret―"

"I tried to stop it, Weasel!"

"But you turned the time-turner!"

"And I—feel—sorry about that!" Draco shouted back.

Harry's and Ron's eyes widened, and Draco's face went pink when he realized that what he just said. He tried to act cool but didn't succeed.

"I, I mean I just feel a little guilty"—Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows— "because it seems that it's my fault..."

"Okay, that's enough," Harry cut him across. "We get that you do feel sorry about this. But now the most important matter is _when_ Hermione is and _how_ to bring her back. Did McGonagall say anything more about this?"

"No, she just took the gold chain and kicked me out of the room."

"Okay, that is really helpful," said Harry sarcastically. Draco gave him a glare but Harry ignored it.

"And our plan is?" asked Ron.

Harry glanced at him, then at Draco, and said,

"Well, I guess we just have to wait and see what happens."

* * *

Lucius Malfoy was alone in the Heads' common room, recalling the events that happened to him today. 

_'She said she called my name because I looked like some Muggle she knew. But how did she know that I was the Head Boy? And Dumbledore and McGonagall? Well, Dumbledore, fine. He's famous. McGonagall, possibly. But me? How did she know I was the Head Boy if she had just arrived here today?'_

Suddenly, the portrait door swung open and Lily came in. If it was ordinary day, Lucius would have ignored her, practicing his usual habit of _avoiding Mudbloods. _However, today was different.

"Evans, I have something to ask."

Lily, surprised by Lucius' unusual behaviour, started a little bit and looked at him confusedly.

"What is it? I don't have much time. I need to give Hermione a tour of the school."

"The new girl, you mean?" Lucius' blue eyes twinkled for a moment.

"Yes."

"If you don't mind,"—Lily frowned slightly at Lucius' unusual civility—"can I give her the tour instead?"

Lily looked surprised but nodded her head.

"Er...sure, if you want. She's waiting outside this room."

"Okay."

Lucius got up and went out of the room. In front of the portrait of the Lady with a Poodle, he found Hermione looking at various portraits hung on the wall.

"Grandel," said Lucius in a low voice, which caused Hermione to jump on her feet.

"Oh my God, you scared me— where is Lily?"

"The plan's changed. I'm giving you the tour."

Hermione seemed to be lost for a moment but soon regained her composure and asked in a shocked voice.

"What?! No, you can't..."

"Why not? I'm the Head Boy."

"I thought you didn't even want to touch my robe," said Hermione icily.

"Why don't we walk? I have some questions for you to answer."

When Lucius' eyes met Hermione's, she started slightly. She was not sure what she was supposed to see beyond the blue eyes.


	6. Chapter 6: The Familiar Voice

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

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Chapter 6: The Familiar Voice 

"Questions? What kind of questions do you mean?"

"Well, let's talk about it as we walk," said Lucius. His piercing blue eyes were still staring at Hermione.

Hermione didn't know what to answer. The only reason she asked Lily for the tour she didn't needed— she has been at Hogwart for six years, after all— was so that she could get closer to Harry's future mother and learn more about her. She also wanted to hear how Lily fell in love with James after rejecting him for all these long years. Unsure about what Lucius was going to do to him, Hermione finally made up her mind.

"Uh...Okay."

They started walking silently. By the time Hermione got bored at listening to their footsteps echoing in the corridor, she stopped and asked Lucius,

"You said you had some questions. What do you want to ask, Malfoy?"

"That—" replied Lucius. "How do you know me?"

"I, I already explained! You look like someone I know from the Muggle world—"

"And he's the Head Boy, too?" asked Lucius icily.

Hermione couldn't think of anything to say.

_'Oh, you stupid, stupid girl—why did you make up such a lame story in the first place? What should I tell him now?'_

"Answer me, Grandel," said Lucius in an authorative tone.

Although Hermione was driven into a corner, she still hasn't lost her Gryffidnor temper; she couldn't have someone ordering her to do something, especially if the person was a Malfoy.

"You can't talk to me like that even if you _are_ the Head Boy," said Hermione angrily.

"You seem to know about the school's rule very well, despite that you are a new student"

Hermione bit her bottom lip. She wanted to say something back but was afraid to make more mistake. Lucius continued.

"And I just noticed that your school robe is not exactly new. Haven't you _just_ arrived here today?"

_'Oh, shoot—he has sharp eyes.'_ thought Hermione. _'Thank God that I'm not wearing the Head Badge. If I were Percy—oh, I can't even imagine what would have happened.'_

"I, I couldn't afford a brand new robe..." Hermione stuttered and hung her head down, hoping that it would appear as if she was ashamed of her lack of fortune. However, Lucius didn't seem to be fooled by her tricks. When Hermione saw his cold blue eyes staring down at her as though he was a detective and she a criminal, she was starting to gett annoyed by him.

"Look," said she. "I don't understand why you even ask these questions. Okay, let's say there are some unclear things about me. But why should you care? Why don't you just ignore me and spend time with your precious pureblood friends?"

Lucius was a little taken aback by her words. She was right. He had no reason to ask her these kind of questions. She may be hiding something, but it should be none of his concern. However, there was something that made him interested in her. She was—intriguing, even mysterious. There was no one who behaved like she did to him. Sure, he could have been nicer to her if she hadn't taken such an offensive attitude towards him in the first place, although it would still have been same as how he treated other Muggle-borns.

_'Wait, _she_ was the one who came out of nowhere and bumped into me. And she didn't even apologise!'_

When he came to think of how they first met and the afterwards, Lucius got slighty upset.

"Malfoy," said Hermione in an annoyed voice. "If you're just going to stand there and do nothing, I think I'd better go."

"You'd better take care of your attitude first. I'm not a person to be treated like this by a Mud—"

Before Lucius could even finish his sentence, Herminone's hand slapped him across the face. Her face was reddened with anger and her breathing was rough.

"When are you going to stop calling me that?! I'm so sick of it! It happens every year and you never get bored with it! If you think you purebloods are going to rule the world, well, you are wrong. _Very_ wrong because all of you will be going downhill, especially you!!"

With that, she stormed off from there while Lucius, too shock to say anything, just dumbly stared at her heading to the Gryffindor tower, with his hands on his face where the pain was still lingering on.

* * *

Draco was back in the Heads' dormitory. Now with Hermione gone, he was the only one occupying the enormous common room. Draco looked around and only found traces of Hermione everywhere. The curtains that they argued over hundreds of times to decide what colour they should be—which they settled for silver and gold stripes—, the Gryffindor flag with a silently roaring gold lion that was hung on the entrance door to Hermione's room, and even the pile of parchments and broken quils on the desk which he stood beside right now. He closed his eyes and sighed. 

_'God, I never thought I would miss the presence of that arrogant know-it-all.'_

When he entered his own room, he found something glittering on his desk. He walked over to the desk and found out that the glittering object was the broken gold chain that he left in McGonagall's room. There was also a piece of folded parchment laid under a big, flaming-red feather.

_'What...? How come this is here?'_

He picked up the parchment and opened it; it was a short note signed by no one.

—_I thought you should keep the chain._—

Looking at the anonymous letter and the red feather in turn, he concluded that it must have been Dumbledore who sent it. Who else could have a hold on the chain when it was safely locked behind McGonagall's door? Dumbledore must have ordered his phoenix to deliever the note and the chain.

_'That old man can do many things even inside his portrait,'_ thougth Draco.

He picked up the gold chain from the desk and held it tightly. He felt guilt flooding inside him.

_'Only if I can find _when_ Granger is...'_

It was then when Draco heard the voice he was so familiar with echoing in his head. He quietly murmured,

"Granger...?"

* * *

Hermione rushed into her room —she got her own room since there was no space in the girl's dormitory for her, and Dumbledore said to her that he felt the need of compensation because she was supposed to have her own room in her time as she was the Head Girl. She sat on her bed, grinding her teeth loudly. 

"Ugh, hateful man! In my time, and even now!"

She punched her pillow as though its every surface was Lucius. Then, she suddently stopped and hugged the pillow tightly. She laid on her back and let out a deep sigh.

_'Oh...I really miss Harry and Ron. I want to go back to my time so badly!'_

She slowly put her hand into her pocket. When she felt the cold touch of metal, she took it out. She gazed at the gold chain vacantly.

_'This is the only thing I have that is related to the future.'_

She squeezed the chain in her hand and repeated to herself desperately,

"I want to go back...I want to go back..."

Without realizing, teardrops trickled down her cheeks.

_'I don't want to be stuck here forever...I want to go back...'_

It was then when she heard the familiar voice calling her name.

"Granger...?"

* * *

**A/N: I usually don't beg for reviews but would you be kind enough to submit one? It really encourages me...: )**


	7. Chapter 7: Connected

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Connected 

The owner of the voice ringing in her head was someone she never thought that she would ever miss in her life in any kind of situation. However, when she realized who it was, she couldn't help but let out a small sob.

"Is it you, Granger?"

"…Draco Malfoy?"

"Oh my God, it's really you! Where are you? _When_ are you?"

"If you ask me, I can tell you: I'm stuck in 1976, not knowing how to go back to 1998."

"1976? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am very serious and very, _very_ desperate to go back."

As she let out a heavy sigh, she started to realize that she was talking with Draco, who was in 1998.

"Wait, how are we doing this? How are we talking with each other?"

"I don't know. I just held the gold chain—you know, the one you had on your neck before you disappeared; I grabbed on it and it broke off— I was just holding it and thinking about you…"

"_Thinking_ about me?"

"Not in _that _way, Granger! That's not even possible…whatever. Anyway, I was thinking about you and I heard a voice saying 'I want to go back.' I recognized it to be yours, so I called your name and…you answered."

Hermione's heart skipped.

'_Maybe it is the way! I might be able to go back to her own time_!'

"So it's like telepathy, right?" asked Hermione.

"I guess so, although I have no clue how it happened…wait, do you still have the broken half of the chain with you?"

"Yes, I'm holding it right now. Why?"

"McGonagall said something about communicating through the chain…maybe that's it!"

"What do you mean? Are you saying that the chain is like a connection between us?"

"Yeah, that's what she said."

"So it means we need to have the chain close to us in order to communicate to each other. Well, we can't have it in our hands all the time…let's make into a necklace…no, it's too short to be a necklace...hmm…bracelet! Yeah, that's it, Malfoy. We need to wear the chain on our wrists, like a bracelet."

"What? A bracelet? I'm not a girl…"

"Oh, shut up. Every guy wears a bracelet nowadays. Even Harry wears one."

Spending six years at Hogwart watching the rivalry between Harry and Draco, she knew exactly how to play with their minds; and it worked. There was a brief silence but soon Draco grunted,

"Okay, I'll do it! If Potter wears one, why can't I? I am going to wear it, I am!"

Hermione had a hard time not to laugh out loud. She smiled silently and said to Draco,

"Okay, so I'm going to go talk to Dumbledore tomorrow, and you go talk to McGonagall, alright? And please tell Harry and Ron that I'm well. They must be really worried."

"Yeah, in fact, they are. The Weasel almost tried to kill me when I told him what happened."

"Don't call Ron Weasel! You are just like your father…"

"My father? You met my father?"

"Yes, he is a complete arse, by the way."

"What?!"

"I'm not in the mood to talk about this now. Ask your father. Maybe he remembers. I'm off to bed. Good night, Malfoy."

"Hey, wait…"

Hermione put the chain down on her desk, and Draco's voice was gone. Hermione laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. Her heart was still skipping.

'_This is really weird. Malfoy was the one who sent me here and now he's the one to help me get back? Of all people, Malfoy?And now there is Malfoy Sr. bugging me here…God, my life would have been so much easier without Malfoy, both of them.'_

Feeling that her heart was starting to calm down, she fell asleep slowly.

* * *

When Hermione went into the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, she noticed that Lily was looking at her with a worried expression on her face. She sat beside her and asked, 

"Is there anything wrong, Lily?"

Lily shook her head, still looking at Hermione.

"No, Hermione. It's just you that I'm worried about."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"What about me? There is nothing to worry about."

_'At least not that you know of,'_ thought Hermione.

Lily turned her eyes toward a specific person sitting at the opposite end of the Hall; Hermione looked at the direction and saw the last person she wanted to see: Lucius Malfoy. His white-blonde hair made it even easier to spot him since it stood out among very few student in the Hall.

"Yesterday, when Malfoy came back to the dorm, he seemed really upset. Did anything happen between you two last night?"

Lily's question was enough to get the Marauders' attention to the conversation between the two girls.

"What? You were with Malfoy last night?" asked Sirius.

"Well, he was giving me the tour of the school. Lily was supposed to do it but he volunteered or something, I guess. And he started asking me questions that I didn't want to answer—no, I'm not telling you what kind of questions they were," said Hermione quickly when she noticed the eager interest in Sirius' and James' eyes. "They were just something I didn't want to tell anyone. Anyway, he got mad when I didn't answer them and called me Mud…you know."

Hermione could see how shocked everyone was, but decided to continue.

"So I …slapped him."

"What?!"

James almost choked on his pumpkin juice he was drinking.

"You—slapped—Malfoy?" asked James with his eyes wide opened.

Hermione simply shrugged her shoulders.

"It's not like I've never done that before,"—Hermione soon realized her mistake when she saw James raising his eyebrows—"I, I mean, not Malfoy but another guy at my old school. He was really mean to me and my friends, and one time, I got really mad and slapped him in the face..."

"Bravo, Hermione," whistled Sirius. James even began clapping, which made Hermione blush.

"Really, I salute you, girl," said James, "nobody, ever, has slapped Malfoy. Hah, I must have seen his face when you slapped him. Can you believe it? A Muggle-born slaps the Slytherine Prince! You should be proud of yourself!"

"Slapping someone is nothing to be proud of," said Hermione shyly.

"It should be fun today," said Peter, "since we have double Potions with Slytherines."

"_Double_ Potions? With Slytherines?"

"Yes," answered Sirius, "I can't wait to see the face of Malfoy when he sees you in the class."

Ignoring Sirius' evil grin, Hermione looked at the direction of Lucius again— and their eyes met. She quickly turned her eyes away, but could still feel his eyes on her. Her heart beat fast but she didn't know why.

_'I'm not scared of him .I can slap him again if he does anything to me. I'm not scared.'_

Slowly, she began eating her breakfast, waiting for the Potions class to come.

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry for the late update! But since I'm about to start my very first year at university, I had so much to do! I'll try to update as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**


	8. Chapter 8: A New Project

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character.**

* * *

Chapter 8: A New Project 

When Hermione found the younger version of Severus Snape in the dungeon, sitting beside Lucius and some other Slytherines, she was not very surprised; he did not seem much different from how he looked in the future— same greasy hair, sallow skin and hooked nose. However, after learning his past from Harry, she could not help feeling sympathy for him. Although he had been mean to her and her friends through out their entire school years, it was still a fact that he was loyal to Dumbledore and helped the Trio to destroy the Horcruxes.

"Do you think he's cute?"

Hermione jumped when Sirius suddenly popped up behind her. Apparently, she has gazing at Severus for a while without realizing. Hermione shook her head and said,

"No, no, it's just…he…he looks like someone I know."

"You know someone look like him? How unfortunate. His name is Severus Snape and his greasy hair is pretty much the main source of the environmental pollution in Magic world."

When Hermione was about to defend Severus, James, who was standing between Sirius and Lily, quietly said,

"Stop it, Sirius. We agreed on that, right?"

Sirius paused and stared at James for a moment, then reluctantly nodded, although it was clearly visible that he did not _agree_ on whatever James was talking about. Hermione looked at Lily but she only smiled, with an expression that said 'I'll tell you later.' Hermione wondered what the story behind was, but figured it was not the best time to ask, so she just silently sat down beside Lily.

At the same time, Lucius was carefully watching Hermione. He saw that she was gazing at Severus, with an expression in her eyes he could not quite describe; however, it was certainly not the kind of emotion you would have for the person you met for the first time. He recalled the last night's event.

"_When are you going to stop calling me that?! I'm so sick of it! It happens every year and you never get bored with it! If you think you purebloods are going to rule the world, well, you are wrong. _Very_ wrong because all of you will be going downhill, especially you!!"_

'_What did she mean by that? All of us are going downhill? Especially me? And " it happens every year?" Surely I've never met her before. Then is there really someone who looks like me?'_

Deep in thought, Lucius did not notice that Severus was calling his name.

"Lucius, Lucius!" whispered Severus somewhat loudly, and Lucius finally looked at Severus' direction with widened eyes.

"What? Why? Something happened?"

Severus frowned at Lucius' unusual behaviour; it was not like him to lose composure.

"What's with you today?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been staring at her…the new girl, I mean."

Lucius realized that he was indeed looking at Hermione's direction and quickly turned his eyes away.

"I did not…! I was just thinking about something…" Lucius' pale face turned a shade of pink; Severus smirked at him.

"Yeah, sure. Since when did you grow fond of Gryffindor?"

"She's a Mudblood. Don't even…"

"Don't use that word." Severus hissed in a low voice. He glared at Lucius shortly and turned his eyes to another direction; Lucius followed and found Lily, who was deep in conversation with Hermione.

'_Oh, I forgot his former _relationship_ with Evans.'_

Although Lucius sort of regretted using the term, he was not the kind of person who would take back his words; thus, he went on as if nothing had happened.

"Don't even joke about that kind of stuff. I'd never mingle with _her_ sort, no matter what."

Severus' jaw clenched, but he said nothing and returned to his Potions textbook. It was then when Slughorn—slightly younger, and surprisingly, slimmer—hurriedly entered the dungeon, in his usual jolly mood.

"Ah, everyone, I apologise for being late, but I have my reason. I really do." He put down the books he held in his arms on the desk beside, and looked around the classroom.

"Now, now, here is the big news. Don't be surprised, people. I have decided, now that all of you are in the seventh year, to start a new Potions project! Isn't that exciting?"

'_Oh, shit,'_ thought Lucius, and he was quite certain that he was not the only one who thought the same. Only a few people—the members of the Slug Club, to be precise—nodded and clapped, although their facial expression suggested that they, too, were not very fond of this idea. Slughorn, however, ignored the cold response from the students and produced a small wooden box from his wand.

"This box contains pieces of parchment with all of your names on, and each of you shall come up to the front and pick one; that is the name of your partner whom you will be working with." He looked around the classroom, obviously expecting applause from the students; however, even when his expectation was not met, he only lightly shook his head and continued—"I know this is not how we usually do, but wouldn't it be fresh and fun to work with someone other than your friend?" The students, knowing that they would just have to this project, reluctantly nodded their heads; Slughorn looked as if he was about to burst from joy. "From this table first!"

* * *

Meanwhile in 1998, Draco was in McGonagall's office again, but with Harry and Ron this time. McGongall carefully listened to Draco's explanation of how he could communicate with Hermione through the gold chain. When his explanation was done, she let out a sigh of relief. 

"Oh, Thank Merlin! We finally found someway! But Mr. Malfoy, how did you take a possession of the chain…" She stopped and turned to Dumbledore's portrait. "It was you, wasn't it, Albus? How dare you! Even without my consent!" However, her tone was not very serious. "How did you know it? Did you…_remember_ something from the past?"

"Yes, Minerva. I _did_ remember," said Dumbledore in the portrait. Confused by the conversation between the Headmistress and the former Headmaster, Harry couldn't resist anymore; he finally interfered in the conversation by asking,

"Remember? What do you mean by 'remember,' sir?"

"Potter," said McGonagall, "you do remember things from the past, don't you?"

"Yes, professor, but— "

"Listen to me with no further interruption, Potter." Harry only nodded this time. "Just like you remember the past events, when one encounters someone or something in the past that had not been there before, he or she develops a new memory, and—remembers it as a part of his or her past."

"But how is that possible, professor? I mean—what happens to the original memory you had before?" asked Ron.

"The original memory remains." It was Dumbledore who answered this time. "I remember that Miss Granger came to my office with her broken time-turner and that I gave her back the chain, but I also remember that there was no such incident before she came to 1976."

"And I remember Albus introducing Miss Granger as a new student during dinner." added McGonagall.

"So…does that mean you have two memories? One with Hermione and one without?" asked Harry.

"Yes, that is right, Harry. Not only me and Minerva but people whom Miss Granger had encountered in the past will remember her as well."

'_So that was what she meant by my father remembering her.'_ thought Draco. _'I should send an owl to him to ask more about this.'_

"Don't worry, Harry. Miss Granger was alright. She seemed a little bit scared and confused, but was still very concerned about her NEWT exams." Dumbledore laughed. Harry and Ron, now looking more relaxed, shrugged their shoulders, and said, "Hermione will always be Hermione."

"Now listent to me, Mr. Malfoy," said McGonagall, "it is your duty from now on to communicate with Miss Granger and pass all the necessary information."

"Excuse me? I mean, why me? Why not Potter or Weasley…"

"You are the only one who can communicate through the chain, I presume. Because you are the one who initiated this happening by breaking the chain, the chain remembers your touch—just like a golden Snitch does; therefore, you are the only one who can connect with Miss Granger. Is that explanation enough?"

"But…!" Draco tried to protest but McGonagall's glare made him realize that it was no use. "Yes, Headmistress."

"It is settled, then. Now, all of you, back to your dorm, please. It is getting late."

* * *

"Peter Pettigrew." Severus read out the name on the piece of parchment he picked up from Slughorn's box. 

"Mr. Snape and Mr. Pettigrew!" said Slughorn merrily. "And now Mr. Malfoy, would you come up and find out who your partner is going to be?"

Lucius got up and strode to the front of the classroom. He picked up a piece of folded parchment from the box and opened it; when he saw the name on the parchment, his face suddenly stiffened.

"Hermione Grandel." He mumbled, and Slughorn loudly announced,

"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Grandel!"

"No!" Hermione shouted from the back of the classroom.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews:D I'm kinda deciding whether this fic should be HGxLM or HGxDM. What do you think?**


	9. Chapter 9: The Feelings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 9: The Feelings 

"No!" Hermione shouted from the back of the classroom.

Everyone stared at her, including Slughorn and Lucius; Hermione felt her face reddened.

"No? Why not, Miss Grandel?" asked Slughorn curiously.

"Because…because…er…Malfoy and I aren't exactly on friendly term, professor…"

"But that is the point of this project! To work outside of your group of friends!"

"Professor, it's not like that…" Hermione protested but Slughorn cut her across.

"Oh, just give it a try, Miss Grandel. After all, you are a new student! You should be interacting with as many people as possible, not avoiding them!"

Hermione sighed and nodded; she knew that it was impossible to argue with Slughorn. She shot a glance at Lucius, who was looking at Hermione's direction; when their eyes met, they quickly turned away from each other.

"So are all we settled? Good. Mr. Malfoy, please go sit beside Miss Grandel. Now, Miss Burns—"

Lucius came over to Hermione's desk and sat beside her. He stayed quiet for a moment but then turned to Hermione and growled at her,

"Was it necessary to make a scene?"

Hermione, ignoring the glare from him, coldly replied,

"I thought you liked being in the centre of attention. Am I not right?"

"You can't be more wrong, Grandel."

"Okay, break apart, you two," interrupted Lily, realizing that their conversation was not going to be pleasant, "or you will make another scene."

Lucius gave another glare at Hermione, which she ignored again. Although he tried to appear calm, if one paid attention to him, it was easy to see that his lips were trembling from anger.

* * *

In 1998, Lucius Malfoy woke up with a horrible pain in his head. Headache…yes, he went to bed early last night because of the headache. What was it from? Oh, memories suddenly flooded in his head…the memories from his seventh year at Hogwarts… 

"Master! You are awake! How is your headache? Is it gone?"

It was the new house elf Tonka, who replaced Dobby after he was freed. Feeling the pain in his head getting deeper as the house elf squeaked in a high-pitched voice, Lucius got out of the bed and said,

"No, so shut up, Tonka."

Tonka fell silent for a moment but then she began squeaking again.

"Master, there is a letter from Master Draco! Would you like to read it now?"

"From Draco?"

"Yes, Master! It arrived only a while ago."

'_Has anything happened to him at Hogwarts?'_ thought Lucius as removed the strand of his blond hair from the face. Tonka was still waiting with her tennis-ball-like eyes twinkling.

"Bring it to me," said Lucius.

Tonka immediately brought the letter and gave it to him. When he opened the letter and began reading it, he could not hide his confusion. The letter read:

'_Dear Father,_

_There is something I want to ask you about. Do you remember anything about your last year at Hogwarts? Is there anything strange happening to the memories you have? You may wonder why I'm asking these kinds of question, but I cannot explain it on the letter. Could you come to Hogwarts as soon as possible?_

_Love,_

_Draco.'_

'_How did he know?'_ thought Lucius as he put down the letter on the table beside the bed.

Yes, there was indeed something strange happening to his memories. It was—changing.

Last night, he remembered that he met a new girl in his seventh year at Hogwarts in an empty corridor while he was patrolling. She was panicking, and when she noticed he was standing there, she started to yell at him all of a sudden. And when he asked her name, she answered…

'_Hermione Granger!' _Lucius suddenly realized. _'It was Hermione Granger!'_

Although she said her last name was Grandel or something, there could be no mistake about her trademark bushy brown hair.

'_But how? How is she in my memory? She wasn't even born yet!'_

Lucius Malfoy decided to go to Hogwarts at once.

* * *

"Is everyone seated beside their partners?" asked Slughorn and the student nodded their heads. "Great! Now listen to me carefully," said Slughorn in a serious tone; Hermione could see that he wanted to make his instructions sound as important as possible. 

"The purpose of this project is to broaden your understanding and experience with potions making. And of course"—he looked at Hermione—"to give you an opportunity to get to know some of your classmates a little better. You are to choose a potion from your textbook page 326—which lists the names of many advanced potions—and brew it. However, I will not give you the instruction about how to make it or provide you with its ingredients. They must be done by you and your partner. I will give you a period of a month and a half, for all potions on that page take at least a month to brew. You may choose to work during your spare time, which will fasten the process. Any question? No? Good. Today's class is to decide which potion you will make. Go ahead!"

Hermione and Lucius both opened their textbooks to page 326. The names of the potions listed on the page indeed looked complicated; even Hermione could not pronounce some of the names. However, as she looked through the list, a certain potion's name captured Hermione's attention.

"Polyjuice Potion?"

Lucius lifted up his head from the text book and looked at her.

"You want to make Polyjuice Potion? It's a quite complicated process. We may not complete it in given time. "

"Er…" Hermione rolled her eyes as she had already managed to make the potion by herself in her second year. "I think we'll be able to make it."

Lucius looked at Hermione doubtful eyes, but then nodded his head.

"Okay, if you are so sure. However, if you hinder the process by making stupid mistakes, you'd have to pay for it. Understood?"

"Yes, but the same thing applies to you," replied Hermione coolly.

"What? How dare…Do you think _I_ would make a mistake?"

Hermione did not answer him but just smirked. He reminded her so much of Draco: looking cold but surprisingly easy to provoke.

'_Like father, like son,'_ thought Hermione, not noticing that Lucius' eyes were fixed on her.

* * *

Lucius bit his lips bitterly. This was just not right. No Mudblood could behave like this to him. In fact, no one had behaved as Hermione did to him, even the purebloods. The name Malfoy held some kind of fear that made the students admire _and_ beterrified by him at the same time—his family's enormous fortune was another factor, too. He was also very handsome and smart, and has never broken any rule. The students, even his friends, looked up to him, yet feared him. 

And here was Hermione Grandel. A new girl. A Mudblood. She did not fear him. She was not afraid of telling him what was on her mind. She did not treat him any different from other students. She yelled at him, mocked him, and even slapped him.

At first, Lucius was furious. How dare anyone—especially a Mudblood—treat him like this? He was _the_ Lucius Malfoy. A pureblood wizard from a wealthy family and the Head Boy of Hogwarts. No one has ever slapped him before. Lucius' anger was beyond expression.

However, deep inside his heart, he felt—_accepted_.

It was true that Lucius felt superior to anyone because of his wealth and position. The girls fancied him and listened to whatever he said; the boys thought he was cool and wanted to be his friends. Yet, Lucius felt lonely sometimes.

No one wanted to get too close to him, even the ones who called themselves as his friends. They did not want to know Lucius' feeling; all they wanted was a rich friend who could sponsor their Quidditch team with the newest brooms in the market or who could take them on a nice vacation during summer. No one cared about how hard he was trying to maintain his family name.

Lucius could not identify the feelings he had for Hermione. Was he simply taken aback by her attitude or did he actually want to know more about her? He was not sure. However, he was sure that this potions project would help him find the answer to his question.

* * *

**A/N: How did you like this chapter?:)**

**I recently wrote a Lily/James fic (one shot), so if you're interested, you can check it out on my profile! ;)**


	10. Chapter 10: A Conversation with Malfoy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 10: A Conversation with Malfoy 

"_What?"_

Lucius' voice echoed in McGonagall's office. His usually white face was now as pale as a sheet of paper.

"What did you just say? Draco did what? The Granger girl is where? _When_?"

"Please calm down, Mr. Malfoy. I am working on this matter, and I will bring her back safely," said McGonagall calmly.

Lucius tightened his grip on his cane. He sharply turned to Draco, who was awkwardly standing beside the entrance door.

"Draco, how dare you mess around with a time-turner! How dare…!"

"I, I just…I didn't know how it worked…" said Draco in trembling voice; his face was also paler than usual.

"Please, Mr. Malfoy. Draco made a terrible mistake, indeed, but he also holds the key to bring Miss Granger back."

"What is that?

"I have this chain…and I can talk to Granger through it," answered Draco as he showed chain tied around his wrist. Lucius recognized it immediately.

'_That chain…She had it with her when she bumped into me in the corridor that day…'_

McGonagall spoke again.

"Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy. We'll solve this problem and neither Draco or your family will be affected by it—if we succeed in bringing her back."

Lucius' face was still serious; he curtly nodded and hissed to Draco.

"Follow me outside, Draco."

Lucius stepped out of the office and Draco reluctantly followed his father.

* * *

Back in 1976, Hermione was chatting with the Marauders and Lily in the Gryffindor common room. 

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Hermione. "Why Malfoy? Why, of all people, Malfoy who detests Muggle-borns?"

"Well, at least you didn't get someone like Mulciber," said Sirius who was lying down on a couch by the fireplace.

"What do you mean?"

"Although Malfoy detests Muggle-borns, he doesn't go around cursing them like some of his friends do."

"Huh, really?" replied Hermione in disbelief. "Aren't they all Death Eaters?"

"Yeah, but he's a Malfoy. He has a reputation to keep. I guess he just ignores the very existence of Muggle-borns."

"And he's the Head Boy, after all," Lily joined in the conversation. "Dumbledore must have seen some merit in him. He hasn't done anything bad to me although we share the common room. We scarcely talk, anyway."

"Just be aware of the fact that there are hundreds of girls who will kill to switch their place with yours," said James jokingly.

"Why?" asked Hermione in a confused voice.

"Because they think they have a better chance to sleep with him if they are his Potions partner," replied Sirius with a wide grin on his face. "And apparently _my_ partner thinks similarly because she never stops batting her eyelashes at me. It's just too hard to keep every girl pleased."

"Keep them pleased as much as you can, Sirius," said James. "Just don't produce any puppy while you're in school."

James winked at Sirius and everyone burst into laughter, but Hermione felt a slight pang in her heart because she knew that Sirius' future was going to be terribly lonely.

* * *

Lucius roughly pinned up his son against the wall as soon as they got out of the Headmistress' office. 

"Do you have any idea how it will affect the family if Granger doesn't return? How dare you mess around with a time-turner?!"

"I already explained! I didn't know…"

"Didn't know?_ Didn't know?!_ Then you should have kept your hands off of it! If Granger does not return, the family name is—"

"Stop it!" shouted Draco as he shook off Lucius' grip on his shoulder. "What family name is there to keep anyway? If you really cared about the family, then you shouldn't have gone to Azkaban in the first place!"

Lucius was silent. His face stiffened, his lips tightened from anger, but he remained silent. Draco continued.

"Why should I restore the family name _you_ ruined? Why, why I?"

"Be carefully of what you say, Draco." Lucius' voice was trembling from his effort to contain his anger.

"No, I won't! I've had enough of this. No wonder Granger hates you even in the past!" With that, Draco stormed out of the place.

Lucius stayed where he stood. He was still in shock from what has just happened. The nightmares from Azkaban seemed to be coming true. In his cold cell at Azkaban, Lucius had nightmares every night. He screamed and screamed but nobody seemed to hear it. Nobody seemed to care about him. Everyone rejected him—Narcissa, Draco, his fellow Death Eaters, Voldemort…. He leaned upon his cane. And Granger…Draco mentioned Granger…She hates him even in the past? Why does everyone hate him? Narcissa. Does she hate him too?

Lucius brought his hand to his forehead. His head was hurting more than ever. More _new_ memories from the past were coming back….

* * *

"Here, Grandel." 

Hermione saw Lucius waving at her in the corner of the library. She walked toward his direction and sat down beside him. There were already piles of books on the desk.

"What's with all these books?" asked Hermione.

Lucius looked at her as if she asked the most obvious question in the world, and curtly answered,

"To find out what ingredients we need. Don't you remember that Slughorn told us we have find them on our own?"

"Oh, but we don't need all these books," laughed Hermione. "All we need is _Moste Potente Potions_ from the Restricted Section. It's all in there."

"You researched it already?" Lucius raised an eyebrow.

"Er…no, I've just read it before…you know, for background reading." Hermione gave an awkward smile but his blue eyes remained cold.

"That makes the task easier," said Lucius. "Then let's decide who will find what…"

'_Granger!' _Draco's voice suddenly rang in Hermione's head. _'Granger, answer me!'_

"What's the matt…oh, um, I'll be right back. Sorry." Hermione quickly left her seat, ignoring Lucius shouting behind her back.

"Hey, Grandel! Where are you going?"

* * *

Hermione rushed into her room and shut the door tightly. 

"What is it, Malfoy? What's the matter? Did you find the way…"

'_No, no. McGonagall told me to contact you everyday. That's it.'_

"Oh, okay." Hermione's face darkened. "But you are trying there, right? You are all trying to bring me back?"

'_Yes, McGonagall and all the Headmasters in the portraits are working on this matter. Even Potter and Weasley are researching in the library. So be assured.'_

Hearing her best friends' names made her go teary.

"How are Ron and Harry? Are they still worried a lot about me?"

'_Yes, yes. They're still worried to sick, so please tell me you are fine and nothing has happened there.'_

"I am fine and nothing has happened here. What about there? Has anything happened?"

After a short pause, Draco replied,

'_My father came to school today.'_

"Oh, did he? What did he say? Did he remember me?" said Hermione sarcastically, but he said nothing back. "Malfoy?"

'_He hates me now.'_

"What?" asked she, sensing something was wrong in his voice.

'_My father, he hates me now. He thinks I'm an embarrassment to the family. He always has. Now he's even more ashamed of me because of what I've done to you.'_

"Malfoy, I'm pretty sure he's just upset…" But Draco cut her across.

'_No, you don't know him. The only thing he's worried about now is how the family will be affected if you can't come back. All he cares about is the family name, when he's the one who brought it down by going to Azkaban!'_

Hermione did not know what to say. It was surprising to see —hear, to be precise— him in such vulnerable state. She barely knew Draco to say anything that could comfort him, but at least she tried.

"He risked his life in the battle to save you, Malfoy. He loves you. Maybe he's worried about the family name because he's conscious of what he's done."

'…_Maybe. But just maybe.'_

"Try to see the bright side. He's still your father."

'_Granger?_' said Draco after a short silence.

"Yeah?"

'_I don't know why I'm telling you this kind of stuff.'_

"I was wondering the same thing," said Hermione as she laughed lightly.

_'Don't tell anyone or I will...'_

"Don't worry, Malfoy. There is no one to tell, anyway. I'm all alone here." There was both sadness and loneliness in her voice.

_'...I will find a way to bring you back. I will.'_

"...Thanks."

There ended their conversation. Hermione quickly got up from her bed and headed toward the library; Lucius must be wondering why she suddenly disappeared.

Living up to the family name must have been hard for Draco. Maybe that's why he disliked Harry so much because he was always in the centre of attention—the place a Malfoy should belong. Feeling sorry for Draco, Hermione entered the library.

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry for my late update! I've been so busy with school. So many readings and assignments! But oh, well, it's better to be late than never. Enjoy this chapter and please post a review!)**


	11. Chapter 11: Like Father, Like Son

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Like Father, Like Son 

"Where the hell did you go?" Lucius asked Hermione, who just entered the library.

"Um…bathroom…I went to the bathroom." She avoided his eyes, but she could feel his curious eyes piercing through her as she sat down beside him.

Her mind was still occupied with the conversation she just had with Draco. She thought she could somewhat relate to him. Proving your worth—that was both her and Draco's main priority. Sure, she liked to learn; that was true. However, the main reason she studied so hard, tried so hard to excel at everything was to prove that she was as equally magical than any other pureblood wizard or witch. Although Draco's situation was different, he, too, must have had to prove that he was worthy of being called a Malfoy.

Deep in thought, Hermione completely missed out what Lucius had been saying to her.

"…Grandel. Grandel, are you listening?"

Hermione was startled and hastily asked,

"Huh? What were you saying?"

Lucius rolled his eyes and frowned slightly.

"I just said that I will get a permission from Professor Slughorn tomorrow morning so that we can borrow the book."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds good," said Hermione blankly; it was obvious that her attention was still away somewhere. Lucius scowled at her.

"Grandel, are you willing to work or not?"

"Malfoy," said Hermione abruptly, completely ignoring his question. "If you ever have a son, and he makes a terrible mistake, would you be ashamed of him?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Lucius with a confused expression on his face.

"Would you be more concerned about your family name being ruined than him?"

Lucius paused; her questions were not making any sense to him.

'_What on earth is she talking about?' _thought Lucius.

"Malfoy?" Hermione pressed him for an answer.

"How would I know? I'm not even married yet."

"Well, then what about your father? How would he react if you make a terrible mistake?"

"I do _not _make a mistake. I think I told you before."

Hermione just turned her head away and sneered. He did not know yet that his biggest mistake was joining the Death Eaters, and he would not realize it for a very long time until he is on the verge of losing whom he loves the most.

"Sure, Malfoy," said Hermione with a smirk on her face; Lucius did not seem very pleased about it. "But _if_ you make a terrible mistake that can perhaps disgrace the family name significantly, what would your father do?"

Lucius was getting very confused now.

'_Why is she asking these questions?'_

Hermione seemed to know about him somehow, yet she was asking these weird questions at the same time. Should he answer them or should he not? In his family, he was taught not to show his thoughts to anybody—always keep your face emotionless and others will fear you because they do not know what you are thinking.

Not that other people wanted to know his feelings anyway. He was just supposed to be a Malfoy: a rich, smart and powerful pureblood wizard who will carry on his family name. Not many people called him by his first name.

However, Hermione—she wanted to know about him. She wanted to know about his feelings and thoughts.

'_Why?'_ thought Lucius. _'What could be so interesting about me?'_

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked again.

"I don't know." Lucius finally decided to answer her questions. "Probably disown me?"

Lucius looked up and saw that Hermione was shocked a little bit.

"Disown you? But…but you're his son!" said Hermione in a loud whisper.

"I am supposed to live up to the family name, am I not? Well, perhaps _you_ wouldn't know since you don't have any name to live up to…" said Lucius with a sneer. Hermione shot a glare at him but let him continue. "It's not like he cares about _me_ anyway. Only my achievements, he cares. So yeah, unless I don't want to be disowned by my father, I should follow what he wants me to do."

This time, he saw her deep brown eyes slightly shaking. Was he revealing too much about himself? Lucius thought it was the time to stop this narrative of his; however, Hermione would not let him.

"Do you love your father?" she asked, somewhat softer than before; the pair of brown eyes were staring at him.

Lucius paused again. _Love?_ What was love? The desire to hear his father saying 'Well done, son'? Or the want to see his father introducing him to other people proudly? Was _that_ love?

"I don't know. Perhaps," he said bluntly, but Hermione did not look away.

"If you…if you ever have a son, are you going to be the same type of father to him? Caring only about what he's done and not him?"

"Why are you asking these questions, anyway?"

"Because it will help you later in your life," said Hermione after a short silence. "Just think about what I asked you today when you have a son in the future."

"Are you…are you a seer?" asked Lucius. Hermione stared at him for a moment and broke into a laughter, which made her earn a sharp glance from Madame Pince. She calmed down herself and shook her head strongly.

"A seer? Me? No, never. I dropped Divination class in my third year. No way. Haha."

"Then why do you sound like you know something about my future?"

"Well…I can't tell you that."

"What do you mean—"

"Do we have anything more to do?" Hermione suddenly changed the topic, looking away from him.

"What? Oh, um, no…not really. We got to get the book first. Tomorrow morning—"

"Then," she cut him across, "it means we have nothing to do today. Good night, Malfoy. I'm going to bed now." She got up from her seat and started heading outside.

"Hey—" Lucius opened his mouth to call after her but remembered that they indeed had nothing to do today. He let out a heavy sigh.

Hermione Grandel—who is she? And why does he become so vulnerable in front of her? He never told such story to anyone else. Lucius wanted to know the answers to these questions.

In his entire life, no one has intrigued him as much as Hermione did. She was mysterious. Although her big brown eyes displayed her sentiments changing every minute, since Lucius could not place the source of those sentiments, he could not figure her out. Through her eyes, he has seen confusion, despair, loneliness, sorrow, sympathy, curiosity, courage and perhaps more emotions he probably had missed.

He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know more about Hermione Grandel. No, he, too, knew that it was not usual for him to have an interest in other person. However, there was just something in her that attracted him.

He was fully aware of the fact that she was a Mudblood. He was not going to get too close to her to the level that it might degrade his name.

'_No, I won't.'_ Lucius thought to himself. _'Just until I discover what she's hiding behind.. Just until I find out what she knows about me, _how_ she knows about me.'_

Still feeling deeply perplexed, Lucius slowly walked out of the library.

* * *

Hermione hurriedly stepped into her room and closed the door behind her. Her heart was pounding faster than usual. 

'_You stupid girl—what was I thinking? He could have figured out that I'm from the future…!'_

Hermione leaned against the door and closed her eyes. The conversations between two Malfoys left her state of mind like a bunch of entangled threads.

'_Like father, like son,'_ thought Hermione. Both Lucius and Draco Malfoy were so much alike, not just their looks but inside too. They both seemed to be too scared of tarnishing the family name, and thus losing their fathers' love.

She had caught Lucius' blue eyes trembling when he said that his father does not care about him; she was pretty sure her own brown ones did the same_—_she was not good at putting on a poker face. Although she loathed Lucius than anyone else, she could not help feeling a bit of sympathy for him at that moment.

'_It's kind of weird, seeing Lucius Malfoy not only in my age, but in such a frail state.'_

She sighed and laid down on the bed. She knew she was not going to sleep well tonight.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, can someone please cast Imeperius curse on me and make me study??!!**


	12. Chapter 12: Misunderstood

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Misunderstood

Lucius woke up from his sleep. His new memories were still vivid in mind; he could almost hear Hermione's voice ringing inside his head again.

'_Because it will help you later in your life. Just think about what I asked you today when you have a son in the future.'_

'_That little Mudblood should learn to stop poking her nose into to other people's business,'_ thought Lucius.

The argument he had with Draco yesterday was still bothering him deeply. The accusing grey eyes of his son was the last thing he wanted to see, yet it has already happened; Draco made it clear how he thought of his father. Lucius closed his eyes tightly to forget the haunting image, but he was soon interrupted.

"Lucius, you are awake!"

It was his wife Narcissa Malfoy standing by the door. She walked toward him and sat beside him on the bed.

"You looked ill last night. Do you feel better now?" she said as she felt his forehead to check the temperature.

"Yes, I'm good. It's just…dreams. Bad dreams…"

"Should I order some Dreamless Potions?" asked Narcissa with worried look on her face, but Lucius shook his head.

"No, no. It's okay. Don't bother."

Narcissa did not seem convinced, but she smiled at her husband nonetheless and said,

"Then I'll just tell Tonka to bring your breakfast."

She prepared herself to get up, and it was then Lucius suddenly pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in her hair and remained still, until Narcissa softly asked,

"Lucius, what's wrong?"

"…How was Draco while I was…_away_?"

Silence occupied the room but it did not last very long.

"Struggled…to cope with everything. He could not take it very well. It was the first time for him, you know. You being…_away_…and not able to protect him."

"Is that why he received the mark?"

Narcissa felt his body tightened; she patted his back lightly to relax him.

"He wanted to prove his worth— _your_ worth, Lucius. He was just too young and naïve. Don't blame yourself."

"But that's what I always taught him. Be a man worthy enough to carry the name Malfoy. It's… my fault…."

Narcissa did not say anything but just hugged him tighter. She felt his deep sigh behind her neck.

"What happened to him at Hogwarts? Why did he want to see you?"

"Nothing you should be worried about. It's just a little…mishap."

"Did you argue with him?"

Lucius just nodded without saying anything, but it was enough for Narcissa to figure out what was going on in her husband's mind.

"You want to apologise him for your behaviour, don't you?" she said as she looked up to him.

Lucius twitched slightly; his wife always knew him too well. He kissed softly on her hair and whispered into her ear,

"You always know me too well."

"Because I'm your wife," said Narcissa smiling. "Send a letter to Draco. I am sure he will forgive you."

* * *

Meanwhile, young Lucius Malfoy was sitting in Slughorn's classroom. Slughorn was sitting in front of his desk reading, occasionally checking on the students; some students seemed to be already working on whatever potions they chose. Lucius was seating opposite Hermione. Lying between them was the damp, ancient copy of_ Moste Potente Potions_. Lucius began speaking in his usual arrogant tone. 

"I read the instructions and most of the ingredients are available in the student store-cupboard. Even the rare ingredients are in Professor Slughorn's store, so it shouldn't be a problem, except…"

"Except the fluxweed, which should be picked at the full moon." Hermione finished the sentence for Lucius. He glanced at her sharply for her interruption but continued as if nothing has happened.

"Correct. The next full moon is only a week away, so I thought we could go into the forest together to search…"

However, he could not finish his sentence again because Sirius, who was sitting behind him, interrupted.

"Planning on a hot date in the forest with Hermione, Malfoy?" said Sirius with sly grin on his face.

Lucius, who looked palpably annoyed, turned his face to Sirius and said coldly,

"No, Black. Unlike you, not everyone regard everything as a chance to lay a girl." Despite his coldness, Sirius' grin was still not gone, and it seemed to make Lucius more irritated. "And you should keep your nose away from other people's business."

"But Hermione's my friend, and you're soon going to be my brother-in-law, so it's not really other people's business, isn't it?"

"Your brother-in-law, Sirius?" asked Hermione.

"He's going to marry one of my cousins one day," replied Sirius. "Either Narcissa or Bellatrix. They're in younger years than us, fourth and fifth."

"Oh, right…" Hermione nodded with knowing look on her face and said to Lucius mockingly. "Aww…how lucky you are, Malfoy. You are not even out of the school yet and there are already two girls willing to marry you."

Lucius glared at her and said bluntly,

"It's not really a choice. It's arranged by our parents."

"Aww…our poor little Cissy will wet her pillow with tears when she hears that. She's already half in love with you." Sirius laughed and Hermione also broke into giggles. Lucius felt his cheeks getting hotter but kept his cold manner.

"Shut up and go back to your work, Black. And you, Grandel, don't laugh at things you know nothing of."

Sirius, still laughing, turned his body and went back to his own work; Hermione grinned widely at Lucius, obviously displaying her amusement from teasing him. Anger and humiliation boiled inside him but he tried to look as unaffected as possible.

"As I said before I was interrupted by the stupid friend of yours"—Lucius quickly shot a glare at the back of Sirius' head—" the full moon is next week, and we will go into the forest together to pick the fluxweed, understood?"

"Whatever you want, whatever you want," replied Hermione with her grin still remaining on her face.

Lucius barely managed to keep his impulse to slap Hermione's grinning face. He was the Head Boy who was supposed to set an example to the students, and more importantly, he was a Malfoy; he couldn't not lose his temper over a mere Mudblood's impertinent behaviour. And—

'_I need to carry a conversation with her if I want to know more about her,'_ he thought to himself, still repressing his urge.

"Have you been into the forest before?" asked Lucius calmly. Hermione, who was not expecting such attitude from him, was surprised a little bit but shook her head.

"No, never. I didn't have a time to go in there yet. And it looks eerie, isn't it?"

Of course, it was a lie, since she stepped into the forest—the Forbidden forest, specifically— in her very first year; however, she was about to do everything that could resolve Lucius' suspicion. Lucius smirked at her, feeling triumphant for having knowledge of something she did not know.

"Well, it's not that eerie if you get used to it. There are actually some very beautiful magical creatures in the forest. However, the deepest part of the forest is forbidden to students—all students, even including the Heads— because it's too dangerous."

"Oh, really?" remarked Hermione dryly. She could see that Lucius was acting all pompously because he knew something she did not, but she decided to play along with him; it amused her quite a lot.

"But don't be scared," continued Lucius. "The book says that fluxweed grows where the moonlight can penetrate, so we wouldn't need to go that deep."

"That's good," smiled Hermione as innocently as possible; inside her mind, she was finding it all entertaining. She looked at Lucius and said,

"Why don't we first start with the ingredients we have? Fluxweed is not needed until the seventh step, isn't it?"

"Good idea," replied Lucius.

And they began working on their assignment.

* * *

At Hogwarts in 1998, Draco Malfoy was having his breakfast at the Great Hall as usual, sitting beside Blaise Zabini and some other Slytherin friends. Hundreds of owls soon came in, fluttering their wings to deliever posts. Draco was not expecting any post at all, until his family owl Apolo dropped a package right into his dish; the eggs and bacons spattered all over on his robe. Ignoring the laughs from his friends, he cleaned his robe with a flick of his wand and unwrapped the package. 

"Wow, that is really nice!" exclaimed Blaise.

It was a pair of brand-new Quidditch gloves made out of leather and decorated with silver and green threads forming a shape of a serpent. Draco opened the letter that came along with the gloves. It was from his father. It read:

_'Dear Draco, _

_I apologise for my imprudent __behaviour__ yesterday. It was quite hard not to lose temper over such shocking news. However, I admit I was careless. I enclose a new pair of Quidditch gloves I thought you might like. I hope it is enough compensation for my behaviour yesterday. _

_Love, _

_Father' _

Draco stared at the letter for a moment, and he crumpled it and tossed it away.

"Something wrong, Draco?" asked Blaise.

"No, nothing." He replied curtly and said to his friends who were having a good look at the gloves,

"You guys can have it if you want"—they turned their heads to Draco immediately—"My father forgot that he had already bought me a pair in the beginning of the semester."

Then Draco got up and left the table, paying no attention to his friends who were now excitingly discussing who was going to have the gloves.

* * *

When Hermione stepped into the Gryffindor common room after the Ancient Runes class, she saw the Marauders whispering among themselves in the corner. Thinking they were planning another prank, she silently slid behind them; however, some of the words exchanged among them caught her ears and made her stop. 

"On the full moon? What if she sees us—"

"Should we tell her about Remus?"

"Are you crazy? We don't even know much about her!"

"But—"

"Just tell her to keep out of the Whomping Willows. We can't tell her everything…"

Hermione cleared her throat; the Marauders jumped on their feet and turned to her.

"Hi, Hermione…when did you come?" asked James with an awkward smile on his face.

"Just now. What are you guys discussing about?" said Hermione, pretending as if she heard nothing.

"Nothing, nothing. Just planning on some jokes…hey, Sirius told me that you are going on a date with Malfoy next week?"

Hermione shot a sharp glance at Sirius and shook her head.

"It's _not_ a date. It's for the Potions project."

"Oh, yeah? Anyway, um…just keep out of the Whomping Willows when you are in the field. It's…quite dangerous."

"Why would anyone want to go near it? We are forbidden to do so anyway, aren't we?" said Hermione casually.

"Right…but just to warn you, you know." James gave another awkward smile.

Hermione looked at her watch and said in a hurried voice,

"Oh Merlin, I nearly forgot. I have two essays to write for tomorrow. I should start now. I'll see you guys later at dinner. Bye."

With that, she quickly turned away and ran into her room.

As she closed the door, she felt hot tears streaming down her face. She shook her head and said to herself,

"No, Hermione, don't take it that way. They are right. They don't know you much about you. They cannot tell such a big secret to a person they met only a while ago. It's a wise decision for them, safer for Remus…"

However, she could not help feeling betrayed by the Marauders.

_'You are a stupid, Hermione. I am a friend to Harry, not his father. Sirius and Remus do not know me yet. You can't blame them…' _

She slid down along the wall and sat down on the floor. She felt so lost and excluded from everything in this world. She wiped her tears from her face and sighed. On her left wrist, she felt the coldness of gold chain; she grasped it and called for Draco, the only person she could feel connected at this time—in this time.

"Malfoy...Malfoy..."

* * *

**A/N: What do you think of this chapter? It ended differently from what I first envisioned, but I'm getting there soon! Review please:)**


	13. Chapter 13: Someone to Talk to

**Disclaimer: I do not own** **Harry Potter or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Someone to Talk to

Hermione desperately called for Malfoy until his familiar voice rang in her head.

'_Granger? Is something wrong?'_

"Have you found a way yet?" asked Hermione as she wiped tears off from her face.

'_No, not yet. They are working on it. They are, really.'_

Hermione sighed and shook her head. No, this was just not good. She could not take it anymore. She missed her friends; she missed her family; she missed every small detail of _her_ Hogwarts.

'_Granger? Are you still there?'_

"Yes. I'm still here."

'_Has anything happened? You sound…'_

"No, nothing has happened. It's just…I just…need somebody to talk to."

'_You haven't made any friend there yet?' _said Draco in a half-surprised, half-mocking voice. Hermione was certain that he was smirking right now.

"I did make some friends," she said defiantly. "But they are not the same, you know. I've only known them for a week! Sirius and Remus are here, too, but they don't know me yet and neither I know _them_."

A teardrop ran down her face, but she did not bother to wipe it off because she knew another would follow soon.

'_So,' _said Draco,_ ' you wanted to talk to _me_ of all people.'_

"Do I have any choice?" Hermione laughed lightly although the tears were still lingering in her eyes. "At least you know me better than people here, don't you?"

"You are right. I guess we know each other, after all these years of hatred." he chuckled.

"Do you still hate me?" asked Hermione after a short pause; Draco did not answer right away.

'_I don't think so.'_ He answered at last._ 'Not anymore.'_

Hermione was quite surprised to hear this answer, but she did not forget what event brought her here.

"Yet you still called me Mudblood."

A silence followed. Hermione could tell that Draco was having a hard time finding an appropriate explanation for his behaviour that evening. Finally he spoke.

'_I just…don't like the idea of you— Miss Perfect, Head Girl, the Golden Trio and…yet you are a _Muggle-born_. I just can't…accept it when you act as if you are _equal_ to me.'_

Strangely enough, she was not angered at all, by what Draco said. It was as if she almost understood what he meant. So he still had prejudices against her; that was hardly surprising. However— Hermione realized— perhaps she, too, had prejudices against _him_—he was evil and she was good; he was wrong and she was right. It was hard for her to get rid of those prejudices even after the last conversation she had with him. Maybe it was hard for him too.

"Why don't we start all over again?" Hermione whispered softly.

'_What?'_

"You and I, let's start all over again."

'…_How?'_

"Let's talk no more of our blood-status, nor about our previous relationship. Let's start all anew."

'_Is that even possible? You…and I?'_

"We could try."

Draco stayed quiet for a moment, then he let out a small laugh.

'_I guess we could_,'

And from that day on, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy became something close to what people called friends.

* * *

Hermione's second week in 1976 was not much different from her first week. Going to class, meeting young versions of people she knew from the future and some new ones, hanging out with Lily and the Marauders, working on the Potions project with Lucius…. She still felt terribly lonely but her daily conversation with Draco gave her energy to keep go on. 

The subjects of their conversations were about various things that they would have never thought of telling each other if they were in the future; however, the unique circumstance they were in made the impossible possible. They talked about school, friends, Voldemort, the war, their families and so on. The more she talked to him, the better she understood the reasons for his past behaviours. Hermione learned that he was a human; she learned that there were different sides to him that many people have not seen yet.

But it all came to an end when Dumbledore suddenly called her to his office in the middle of Charms class. Hermione passed through the gargoyle statues and went into the headmaster's office.

"Did you want to see me, Professor Dumbledore?" asked Hermione. "Have…have you find a way to send me home?"

"I think so, Miss Grandel," said Dumbledore, smiling calmly.

Hermione swallowed. She could not believe it—it happened so much faster than she thought. S_he was going back._ However, Dumbledore soon burst her bubble by saying,

"But I don't know how long it will take."

She paused; her excitement was now all subsided.

"What do you mean, Professor? Am I not going back right now?"

"No, Miss Grandel." Dumbledore shook his head. "This method I found from an ancient Greek text is extremely difficult—and very risky. I believe no one has ever actually tried it before. I cannot predict how long it will take."

"What is the method?" asked Hermione confusedly.

"A Portkey for time-traveling," said Dumbledore

"A Portkey for time-traveling?" Hermione repeated blankly.

"Yes. As I said before, it is very risky and can be very dangerous if anything goes wrong."

"How…how is it done? How can you travel to the future by a Portkey?"

"When you came to my office a few days ago, you said you had an object that connects you to the future, didn't you?" said Dumbledore. His sapphire-blue eyes were on Hermione's left wrist.

"The gold chain? Yes, sir, I can talk to Draco through the chain but—" Hermione hurriedly rolled up her sleeves and gaped at the chain wrapped around her wrist; it twinkled under the ceiling light "You mean—you are going to transform the chain into a Portkey?"

"That is what I am planning to do."

Dumbledore rose up from his seat and began wandering around the room; Hermione stood there and watched him in silence. Dumbledore spoke again.

"The gold chain is the only object that is present in both time periods. If I—_we—_myself in the future and I_—_ work on it carefully, we will be able to set the Portkey to take you back to when you originally came from, although it will take a long time to set it properly."

Hermione's heart swelled with excitement. She did not care how long it would take; it was not important. What was important was that she was going back; she had something to hope for. No matter when it would be, it was now certain that she was able to go back. She asked in an excited voice,

"So how are you going to transform it into a Portkey?"

"First, you would have to give the chain to me," said Dumbledore, holding out his hand to Hermione. Hermione's face stiffened when she realized what that meant.

"Oh, of course…" said Hermione as she reluctantly took off the chain from her wrist. "You need the chain if you are going to change it into a Portkey…"

Dumbledore softly smiled at her as he took the chain and said,

"Don't worry, Miss Grandel. I will try to make it happen as fast as possible. You won't miss Mr. Malfoy very long."

Hermione smiled back but she could not hide her sadness. Dumbledore patter her on the shoulder and spoke a few more words, and then he told her to go back to her class. However, the place she went to was not Flitwick's classroom; it was the library.

She found the familiar spot in the secluded corner of the library. She used to discuss various things here with Harry and Ron in her own time. Although they were not here with her, she felt comforted as she sat down on her usual chair.

She leaned back and sighed heavily. She was having a hard time accepting the new situation; just at the moment she thought she found a friend, she was now to be all alone again. Her eyes got teary and soon she felt teardrops flowing down her face.

And that was whom Lucius Malfoy saw when he was looking for a book in the library. He put the book he found back into the shelf and approached Hermione.

"Grandel?"

Hermione was startled when she saw Lucius standing in front of her. She quickly dried her tears and looked up as if nothing was wrong.

"Are you…crying?" asked Lucius, looking confused to see Hermione in such state. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine!" Hermione quickly answered with a fake smile, although she was cursing herself inside. Lucius was the last person she wanted to show herself crying. Hermione stared at him, keeping the smile on her face, but he did not seem to be convinced by her act. He sat down on the chair near him and asked,

"What is wrong? Has someone harassed you in the hallway or something?"

"No, no," said Hermione, shaking her head strongly. "I told you, everything is fine!"

"It does not seem so to me."

Hermione turned her face to Lucius, only to find his blue eyes staring into hers. She had the same uneasy feelings she had on the night she slapped him; it was impossible to figure what he was thinking inside.

"Really, it's none of your business, Malfoy." Hermione snapped out. "You seem to take an eager interest in my affairs."

She thought Lucius would retort with similar response he gave her that night. However, she was wrong.

"It is Head Boy's duty to take care of the students' problems," he calmly replied. "Tell me, what is wrong?"

Hermione looked at him in wonder.

_'Is this really Lucius Malfoy? He actually wants to hear about my problem?' _

However, she soon remembered what the Marauders and Lily said about him. Maybe he really was taking his Head Boy duty seriously. Hermione nibbled at her nails for a while and finally made up her mind.

"Nothing's much wrong. It's just…I'm so lonely."

Lucius seem to be surprised by her answer. He looked at her and said,

"I thought you got along pretty well with Evans and her friends. Was I wrong in that assumption?"

"No, that is not what I meant." Hermione bit on her bottom lip. " I just need…someone to talk to."

Her own words made her realize how lonely she was again. Her deep brown eyes darkened with despair. Lucius remained silent without saying anything, until he quietly said,

"You are talking to me right now."

Hermione lifted up her head in surprise. This was not what she expected at all—she thought Lucius would sneer at her for crying about being lonely. She just stared at him with her eyes widened. After a considerable duration of silence, he suddenly rose to his feet and curtly said to Hermione,

"Don't forget to meet me at the castle door at midnight. Tonight is the full moon."

Then he disappeared, leaving Hermione more confused than she was ever before.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, you would never guess how hard it was for me to write the conversation between Draco and Hermione! Oh my God, I really cursed myself for making him such a jerk in the first chapter. I wanted to redeem him but had to come up with a convincing explanation for his behaviour to Hermione, not to mention that it had to fit his character, too. I thought about rewriting the first chapter but oh well, I guess I learned my lesson there. Next chapter will be coming up soon! Thank you for reading and reviewing!**


	14. Chapter 14: Into the Forest

Chapter 14: Into the Forest

The Whomping Willow stopped moving for a fraction of a second, and then started to roar again. Although Hermione was standing by the castle door, she could see three figures—Peter was too small to be seen at distance in his Animagus form— quickly slipping into the tree trunk. The bright moon shaped a perfect circle and shone brightly in the sky.

"You are early," a voice behind her quietly said, making her jump.

Hermione quickly turned around and saw Lucius standing behind her. She sighed in relief.

"You surprised me, Malfoy. When did you come?"

"Just now. Are you ready to go into the forest?"

"Yes, let's go."

They started walking toward the forest, and soon they reached the edge of the forest. Hermione turned to Lucius and asked,

"Shall we start from here?"

Lucius nodded and they began their search for fluxweed.

After about an hour, Hermione and Lucius gathered enough amount of fluxweed in their pouch. Lucius stood up as he put the greenish yellow plant in the pouch.

"I think we've got enough now. Shall we head back to the castle?"

"Sure," replied Hermione as she stretched herself.

Lucius put the pouch into his pocket and began walking with Hermione. However, not long after, he noticed that the trees surrounding him did not look familiar to him.

"This…is not where we came from, is it?"

Hermione, who just noticed the same thing, answered in an uncertain voice.

"No, I don't think so. This tree was not here, was it?"

Lucius shook his head. He stopped walking and looked around his surroundings carefully. The night was dark and the woods was dense. A worried look appeared on his face.

"We came in too deep. I think we are in the forbidden area of the forest."

"I heard the trees move their positions in the night," said Hermione anxiously. "Let's get out of here before we get really lost."

She took out her wand from her pocket and whispered, holding it flat in her palm.

"_Point me."_

Her wand spun around and pointed to her left.

"This way is north. The castle is in east…so we need to go this way. Come on, let's go."

"Where did you learn that?" asked Lucius as they started to walk again. He looked a little more relieved now.

"Oh, from a book I read a few years ago," said Hermione proudly.

"You read a lot, don't you?"

"I surely do. Reading is my pleasure."

Lucius snorted with the look suggested that he doubted reading can be anyone's pleasure, but she ignored him. They kept on walking in silence until Lucius suddenly asked,

"What else do you like beside reading?"

Hermione did not answer his question but only looked at him with her eyes widened. Lucius seemed a little bit embarrassed by her reaction; pink tinges appeared on his pale cheeks.

"I mean, I don't know anything about you, even after spending two weeks working together everyday. You always ask about me but never tell anything about you."

Hermione was still silent.

"You've asked me a load of questions, and when I ask _you _anything, you just turn away!"

"What do you want to know about me?" she said at last.

"…Where are you from?" asked Lucius, staring at her eyes directly. She did not avoid his eyes, even though she was afraid that her body might flinch at his piercing eyes despite her own will.

"Britain," she calmly replied.

"You know I wasn't asking about that," said Lucius, looking a little annoyed at her answer. Hermione only shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"You seem to be familiar with everything at Hogwarts even though you just came here only two weeks ago. Yet sometimes you look so out of place…like at the library today."

"Don't mention anyone about _that_, Malfoy, or I will—"

"Okay, okay," Lucius cut her across before she could finish her sentence; yet the intense emotion remained in Hermione's eyes. "Let me ask you something more general then, is that okay?" Hermione nodded. "Any sibling?"

"I'm an only child."

"And your parents are…"

"Both Muggles. I thought you already knew that," snapped Hermione coldly.

"Yes."

Lucius bit his lip. He wanted to ask many things about Hermione but he could not think of any proper question. He especially wanted to ask what made her feel so lonely that she cried alone in the library. That was the only time he saw her in such state: frail and spiritless. She seemed so tough and bossy, always trying to have more control while they worked on their project. Therefore, to see her like that was quite a shock to him. He wanted to know why she was crying; he wanted to know what her problem was. When she said she just needed someone to talk to, with tears smudged on her face—he just wanted to comfort her and say that everything was okay.

Of course he did not do it—he was Lucius Malfoy and she was a Mudblood. He could not do such thing; it was out of question.

However, as he watched Hermione perform Four-point spell, a question entered his mind.

'How?' thought Lucius. 'How does she know all these different advanced spells? She's also good at Potions...But how? She is a Mudblood...she can't be good at magic...'

He was too deep in thought, he did not realiza that he stopped walking; Hermione, who was walking a little ahead of him turned around.

"Malfoy? What—"

Lucius' eyes widened. He could not believe what she was doing: she was pointing her wand at him.

Hermione shouted,

"_Stupefy!"_

_

* * *

_

A jet of red light passed over Lucius' head, and there was a loud roar.

Lucius turned around only to find a giant forest troll holding a spiked club writhing in pain. Before he realized what was happening, Hermione grabbed his arm and started running toward the direction of the castle.

"Are you deaf?! You didn't hear it coming? It was about to smash you head with its club!" she yelled at him.

"I—I was thinking—"

Hermione only snorted at him and glanced behind her; the troll recovered from the pain and was now running toward them, with—

"Oh my God, it brought a friend," murmured Hermione, and Lucius' face became a shade paler than usual. "Let's hide somewhere first." Lucius swallowed and nodded his head.

They found a giant oak tree with a hollow trunk and quickly hid themselves in it. The trolls were talking between themselves—that is, grunting and pointing— and seemed to be looking for Hermione and Lucius.

Hermione felt her heart tightened. Yes, she had dealt with a troll in her first year with harry and Ron, but it was based on pure luck; she was not sure if she will have the same luck this time, especially when she was against not only one, but two trolls. She also knew that forest trolls were more vicious than mountain trolls, from reading _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._

The trolls were now smashing trees around them, and they were coming closer to the oak tree Hermione and Lucius were hiding.

_'It can't be worse than fighting Death Eaters,' _thought Hermione, biting her bottom lip. She turned to Lucius and said determinedly,

"Malfoy, go back to the castle."

"What?"

"You go back to the castle and get some help. I'll distract them."

"Are you insane? You'll get killed! And I can't just leave you here. I have reponsibilities as the Head Bo—"

"Look," said Hermione impatiently. "This is not the time to discuss about your Head duties—"

CRASH!

A tree beside them got smashed by the spiked club of the troll.

"Just run to the castle, Malfoy! This is not something an inexperienced schoolboy can handle!" shouted Hermione.

"Inexperienced school—"

Before Lucius could protest, Hermione jumped out of the tree trunk and pointed her wand at the trolls.

"_Stupefy!"_

A jet of red light was shot from Hermione's wand but the troll blocked it with its club; the other one was still concentrated on smashing trees around it.

"Oh, smarter than your mountain cousins, aren't you?" she murmured to herself. Then she realised that Lucius has not moved yet. She turned to him and yelled,

"Why are you still here? _Run!"_

Lucius stared at Hermione confusedly for a moment, then finally turned around and started running toward the castle.

Hermione sighed in relief and shot various spells at the two trolls in front of her. A few hit them but it did not seem that they were much hurt, likely due to their giant body size. She even used the levitation charm, hoping for another luck, but these two were definitely smarter than the one she encountered in her first year. Hermione hid behind another tree to earn her some time to think.

_'Think, Hermione, think. How did you defeat it last time?'_

Hermione recollected her memory from the first year: Ron used the levitation spell—Wingardium levi_o_sa, not Wingardium levio_sa_, he did it correctly for the first time—then the troll's club flew to the ceiling and—

_'It hit the troll's head!'_

Hermione's eyes suddenly glistened with hope; she had a plan in her mind. Only if it works well, she might escpae the forest unscathed. It required a precise aim—however, the forest was dark and full of trees...Hermione swallowed and tightened her grip on the wnad. Still hiding her body securely, she aimed her wand at a tall tree behind the trolls and whispered,

"_Diffindo!"_

The bottom of the tree got slashed by Hermione's spell and fell to the ground, knocking down one of the trolls and hitting the other one's shoulder; the former went unconscious and the latter groaned in pain.

_'That's enough,'_ thought Hermione; she would be able to sneak out of here.

She shut her eyes tightly and began running toward the castle with all of her strength. When she quickly opened her eyes, the edge of the forest was so close, with the glimpse of the castle shown behind the trees. She shut her eyes again, then she ran and ran and ran...until she heard Lucius' voice shouting something. She burst her eyes open and saw him running toward her direction from the middle of the field. He had his wand out and was shouting something at her, but she could not hear him clearly because of the distance.

Then she heard the tree leaves rustle behind her. Before she could even turn around, she felt a heavy blow on her back—and everything went black.

* * *

"No! Grandel! No!" 

Lucius screamed at what just happened before his eyes: the troll who was injured in shoulder ran after Hermione and striked her with its spiked club; she fell to the ground immediately, blood spattering all around her. Then The troll saw him coming and began walking toward him slowly—to his relief, it did not step on Hermine.

Lucius shot all kinds of spells he knew at the troll. The troll roared loudly—whether it was in pain or in anger, he was not so sure—and swung its club, which nearly smashed Lucius' arm, though left a deep scratch; he let out a cry of pain.

_"S—stupefy!" _Lucius bellowed.

The spell hit the troll in the eyes. It roared in pain—this time Lucius was quite sure—and jerked his body uncontrollably, then ran into a tree beside it; it hit his head and fell on its back, making a loud thud that made the forest tremble.

Lucius stood there, taken aback by the troll's stupidity, and not able to believe how lucky he was. Then he collected himself and ran toward Hermione.

"Grandel! Wake up!"

But she did not respond. Her face was ghostly white and her robe was already soaked in blood.

Lucius picked her up in his arms and started running toward the castle. On his way, he was murmuring something without realizing it himself.

"Don't die, Grandel. Don't die..."

**

* * *

A/N: Whew! I finally updated. What do you think of this chapter? I know some of you thought that it would be about the Marauders' infamous prank on Snape, so I'm sure it was quite a surprise. There is three reasons why I did not use the prank in the story: first, it did not happen in their seventh year (if I remember correctly); second, I want to focus on Lucius and Hermione as much as possible, so I'm trying to keep out any sub characters; third, too many people use that incident in their stories. **

Anyway, I'm developing another Lucius/Hermione fic, and I will start writing it after I finish this story. So keep your eyes opened! Thank you for reading and reviewing :) 


	15. Chapter 15: Mudblood

Chapter 15: Mudblood

Lucius did not know how he got to the Hospital Wing. He just ran and ran, carrying Hermione in his arms, until his legs became numb.

"Oh, Merlin! What happened?" Madame Pomfrey gasped at their sight. Even though there was no mirror in the Hospital Wing, Lucius knew that he and Hermione were not very pleasant to look at right now.

"No time to explain, Madame Pomfrey. She is bleeding really badly," said Lucius.

"Oh, right right. Come here."

Madame Pomfrey led Lucius inside and he laid down Hermione on one of the beds. Madame Pomfrey flicked her wand a few times and the bleeding stopped immediately.

"That will do for now, but she needs to stay here at least a few days….Mr. Malfoy, your arm, please!"

"Huh? Oh, yes!"

Lucius held out his bleeding arm, and with another flick of wand, it was healed. Then Madame Pomfrey began inquiries about what happened. When Lucius recounted the night's event—omitting the part where they went into the Forbidden forest, of course— the shock appeared on her face was beyond description.

"Trolls! _Two_ trolls!" cried Madame Pomfrey.

"Yes, then I heard a loud thud, so I looked back. Grandel knocked downed one of them, but the other one attacked her from behind…"

"That is horrible! Mr. Malfoy, you stay here right now. I must inform this accident to your House heads. Slytherin and Gryffindor, right?"

"Yes, Madame."

"I've got to tell it to Dumbledore, too…Trolls…unbelievable…" muttered Madame Pomfrey as she hurriedly exited the room, leaving Lucius and Hermione alone together.

Lucius sat on the bed next to Hermione's. The moonlight flooded into the room, shining brightly on Hermione's face; she looked very pale.

He lifted his injured arm. Although the wound was healed, his robe was still soaked in blood; even his hand was covered in dried blood, both his and Hermione's.

'_Blood,'_ thought Lucius, looking at his arm. _'What is the difference?'_

They were both red, his and hers; there was absolutely no difference that could distinguish them.

'_Her blood and my blood. No difference.'_

Lucius turned his eyes to Hermione again; she was still unconscious and still pale as a sheet of paper.

He could not understand, that his blood and her blood would look the same, that they would even mingle together; they were not supposed to be so.

'_She's a Mudblood,'_ he said to himself.

However, unlike any other day, a question echoed back from his heart: _'Really?'_

Her blood was red, and so was his. There was no difference between them; it was impossible to tell them apart. He bit his lip in confusion.

Lucius was still astonished by how Hermione fought against the trolls in the forest. Her quickness, determination and bravery—no, they were not something that could be seen in a common seventeen-year old girl. Even though Lucius knew almost nothing about Hermione, he could tell one thing: she was an experienced fighter. 'Inexperienced schoolboy,' she called him; now he could see why she called him so.

He stood up and went closer to Hermione; then he passed his hand over her hair, her face and her shoulder.

'_She's so thin,'_ Lucius realized, and this realization made him even harder to believe what he just witnessed in the forest. How could she possess so much strength in such tiny frame? She saved him from getting his skull smashed by the trolls and fought with them all by herself, even knocking out one of them. He did not want to admit it, but she was certainly the best young witch he has ever seen.

And for the first time in his life, Lucius Malfoy thought that perhaps this distinction between pureblood and Mudblood might be pointless.

* * *

"Can we please see her? We won't disturb. Please, we promise."

A babel of voices woke up Lucius. He remembered Madame Pomfrey pressuring him to stay the night in the Hospital Wing yesterday and giving him a medicine; he had a long, dreamless sleep.

"Okay, then. But only for five minutes, understood?"

"Thank you so much, Madame Pomfrey!"

When Lucius recognised the voice to be Lily Evans', he closed his eyes again and pretended to be asleep.

"Oh, there she is," said a male voice; it sounded like James Potter's.

Lucius slightly opened his eyes and looked beside him; there were five people around Hermione's bed: Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. They all looked terribly shocked by Hermione's condition. Lily squeaked in a worried voice,

"When I first heard that Hermione was attacked last night, I thought it was Re—"

"Lily!" whispered James. "Be careful. Malfoy is right beside us."

Lucius quickly shut his eyes but he could feel the five pairs of eyes penetrated on him.

"Well, seems like he's sleeping," said Peter.

"Be careful, nonetheless," said Sirius in a deep voice.

"I'm sorry. I will be more careful. I was just…"

"It's okay, Lily. We understand."

They talked of Hermione a few more minutes, and Madame Pomfrey came in and drove them out. She closed the door quietly and checked Hermione's temperature, then came to Lucius. Her opened his eyes and sat upright.

"I'm fine, Madame."

"Oh, Mr. Malfoy, you're awake! How is the wound? Does it hurt still?" asked Madame Pomfrey.

"No, I think it's okay now."

She examined Lucius' arm and applied a bandage to it after putting on some ointment. Then she nodded her head and gave him permission to go.

"Thank you. Um, what about…" said Lucius as he glanced at Hermione's direction.

"Miss Grandel? Oh, she has to stay here a least a couple more days. She hasn't even woken up yet!"

Lucius stared at Hermione a few more seconds, until he finally got up and stepped out of the room. However, his eyes were still lingering on her.

* * *

When Hermione woke up, a horrible pain ran through her entire body. She felt as if she was stepped on by Grawp a couple of times, then run over by a herd of Centaurs.

"Mmm…" she moaned, trying to get herself up; however, she was too tired even to open her eyes.

She had a dream, a very weird, unusual dream. She was sent back to 1976 and met Harry's parents, Sirius, Remus, young Peter Pettigrew…and…oh, yeah, young Lucius Malfoy, too. They were attacked by trolls…perhaps that was why her body hurt so much.

"You're awake!" A voice exclaimed.

It was not Harry's or Ron's although it sounded familiar. She slightly opened her eyes and saw a person with white blond hair standing beside her bed. However, her vision was still blury; she closed her eyes again.

"Mal…foy…?"

"Yes, it's me. How do you feel?" he asked in an eager voice.

"Absolutely terrible," she replied. She felt as if her heart was pounding against her head.

"I…had a dream…" said Hermione.

"A dream?"

"Yes, a very…weird dream…it felt so real…"

"What was it about?"

"I was sent back to the past…the year 1976…My time-turner broke so I got stuck….I met your father there…ha…seventeen years old, young and fresh Lucius Malfoy…"

"Grandel, what are you talking about?."

'_Grandel? That's not my na…'_

Hermione opened her eyes at once. White ceiling of the Hospital Wing stared back at her. When she turned her eyes to the side, she realised that she just made the same mistake that she made on the first day: the person staring at her was not Draco Malfoy; it was Lucius Malfoy.

"Lucius…Malfoy…" she murmured in horror.

"You are…from the future?" asked Lucius in disbelief, and the only thing Hermione could do was cursing herself under her breath.

* * *

Hermione slowly moved her body and sat erect, then gave a small nod. Confusion and shock filled Lucius' blue eyes.

"But how…? Why…?"

"Please, Malfoy! Please don't tell anyone!" said Hermione desperately. Lucius did not say anything, though; he still looked utterly shocked. Hermione repeated,

"Please! Please don't tell!"

"I…I won't…" Lucius finally opened his mouth. "But could you…could you tell me how you got here? Why?"

Hermione swallowed and began her narrative, but she kept out all the important details about the future. When she was finished, Lucius stood there silent, gaping at her.

"Now everything makes sense," he said. " The way you acted, your knowledge about the school, why you were so secretive…" Then he suddenly stopped, looking perplexed.

"But…"

"But what?"

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione; her body stiffened a little bit.

"I mean, in the forest, when you were dealing with the trolls. They were…they were not something you can see from a mere school girl, those spells and movements…."

Hermione turned her face away and stared at the window pane. Lucius approached her.

"What happens in the future?"

"I can't tell you. A single detail could disrupt the timeline seriously," replied Hermione, her eyes still fixed on the window pane. Lucius bit his lip angrily but sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay then. I was just curious."

Hermione sighed lightly, too.

"Thank you for understanding." Then after a few seconds, she added, "…and thank you…for bringing me back to the castle."

Lucius stared at her surprisedly; he did not seem to be expecting this at all.

"It was you, wasn't it?" asked Hermione.

"Ah…yes, it was me," he said awkwardly. "But well…you saved my neck first. I just paid the debt."

Then he gave the most awkward smile Hermione has seen, avoiding her eyes. She smiled and said amusedly,

"I didn't know you were capable of smiling, Malfoy. You should smile more often. It makes you look a load better."

Her comment made Lucius' pale face turn light pink.

"I was just—I was just…trying to say…um…you know, um…"

"Yes?"

"Tha…thank you…" he blurted out the words at last, and his face became more pink.

Hermione looked at him in amazement, then burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" demanded Lucius angrily, thinking she was laughing at him.

"Oh, no, I'm not laughing at you, Malfoy," said Hermione, shaking her head and trying her best to stop laughing.

"Then why are you laughing all of a sudden?"

"I just found it quite funny that fighing against trolls always seems like the best way to become friends with someone."

Of course Lucius did not understand what she meant. He stiffened his face again and said coldly,

"Who says we are friends? Just because I thanked you, don't think that I would ever be friends with a Gryffindor!"

Then he walked out of the room, leaving Hermione half-confused and half-amused at the same time.

* * *

However, Hermione's theory was right: fighting against trolls turned out to be the best way to be friends with someone, indeed, for she and Lucius eventually became friends. And by sharing Hermione's biggest secret, their relationship turned into something deeper than they expected to be.

They did not spend every minute together despite their closeness. Lucius still hung out with his Slytherin friends, and Hermione with Lily and the Marauders; they did not want to make a scandal by displaying their unusual friendship publicly.

Yet, whenever they needed some quiet time together, separate from their housemates, they would come to the secluded corner of the library, where their first intimate moment flowered, and find each other waiting there.

Hermione told only Lily about her relationship with Lucius, because the smart redhead noticed the somewhat warmer relationship between Hermione and Lucius, and confronted her about it. Hermione finally gave her the general outline of how they became friends. Lily seemed surprised to find out that Lucius Malfoy would befriend a Muggleborn—especially a Gryffindor— but promised Hermione that she would not reveal their secret to anyone. Hermione was relieved.

It was a fine, sunny day, which most of the Hogwarts students spent by playing outside the castle. However, there were two individuals who preferred to be in the library than the ground: they were Lucius Malfoy and Hermione Granger.

"What a fine day to be outside!" exclaimed Lucius.

Hermione caught the playful tone in his voice, but still retorted sulkily.

"I didn't force you to come here with me. You can go out if you want to."

Lucius laughed and said,

"You know I wasn't serious. I'd rather be here with you than going outside. At least there are no first years running around yelling and screaming."

Hermione smiled and returned to her book.

"However," Lucius interrupted her again, "it makes me wonder."

"Wonder what?"

"Is this what you do even when you are with your boyfriend in the future? Reading?"

Hermione stared at Lucius.

"I mean, if you ever had one," said Lucius grinning.

"Of course I had—!" But she closed her mouth quickly. "I shouldn't tell you about the future."

"Oh, come on. I'm pretty sure that telling about your boyfriend wouldn't disrupt the timeline."

Hermione seemed to be hesitating, but she finally closed her book and said,

"Well, there is this guy…"

"Now you are telling," said Lucius, still with a grin on his face. However, he felt a sudden uneasiness in his heart, which he could not tell why.

"He's been one of my best friend since the first year, and I liked him for a very long time. But we started going out since last year."

"What took you so long?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and said,

"He was too dense to notice my feeling."

Lucius only twitched the corner of his lips. He did not know why, but he was not enjoying her story as much as he thought he would.

"But we broke up soon," said Hermione casually, and light returned to Lucius' eyes.

"Why?"

"I don't know. We didn't get along as much as we thought we would. I mean, it was all good, but there was no spark. We decided to remain as good friends."

"So you don't like him anymore?

She shook her head, and Lucius let out a small sigh of relief.

Then he paused.

'_Why did I just do that?'_

He sighed—_in relief_. What relieved him so much, he could not figure out why, until—

"Lucius?"

Lucius startled; he felt Hermione's hand brushing his shoulder.

"Are you okay? You kind of…zoned out," said Hermione as she looked into his eyes gently.

Then a sudden realisation struck Lucius like a bolt of lightening: he liked Hermione—more than just a friend.

He broke the gaze and got on his feet.

"I…I got to go," he said in a shaky voice.

"Go where?"

"I got to do something."

"Do what?" asked Hermione; she looked a little bit confused now.

Lucius shook his head slowly and exited from the library, leaving Hermione wondering if she said anything wrong.

* * *

Lucius walked slowly as if he was counting his each step; in fact, he was just too deep in thought to see how slowly his surroudings were passing him.

'_No, this can't be true,' _thought Lucius, shaking his head once again. _'I can't like her…no, not her…'_

Then he realised that something was blocking him on the way. He lifted up his face from the ground and saw a grey wall looking back at him. He stepped back and turned aroud the corner, only to be in the same corridor where he first met Hermione.

He remembered the incident perfectly well—how she appeared out of nowhere; how she yelled at him as soon as she saw him; how she panicked when she saw her time-turner broken…

He leaned on the wall and closed his eyes.

'_She will soon disappear to nowhere just as how she came here.'_

Then he would see her twenty-one years later, when he would be old and wrinkly but her looking the same as he would remember her. No, he could not let his heart broken like that. He should stop this feeling now, before it gets out of his control.

* * *

In 1997, Lucius Malfoy suffered from a severe headache again. He put down the book he was reading on the table beside him, and let his body sink into the soft armchair he was currently occupying.

It was another memory; yet, it was different from the others. It was sharp, clear and—painful.

Hermione. He remembered that he fell in love with Hermione in the seventh year. Ah, it has been twenty-one years already….

'_What am I doing?'_ he suddenly thought.

It was not like him to be sentimental over a schooldays' memory. It was not even a real memory. It would not have happened if Hermione had not gone back to the past.

'_But…'_

Lucius rolled up his left sleeve; the scar he got from the troll was still visible, although very faint.

So it was real. The events in these new memories did happen. He really encountered the trolls in the forest, got saved by Hermione, saved her and became friends.

He also fell in love with her.

Lucius sighed heavily. He really hoped that his younger self would make a smart decision and prevent anything catastrophic from happening. He could not even imagine what would happen to him if his younger self decides to marry Hermione instead of Narcissa. And Draco—what would happen to Draco?

Even if Hermione does come back to the present before anything like that happens, it would be awkward to see her. It was not that _he_ was in love with her now. No, _he_ was not in love with her. To him, she was just a distant memory; the girl he once felt love. Still, it would be awkward, just as meeting one's past love is always awkward.

He pushed his hair back and sighed again. It was frustrating not to know what would happen in your _past_. He wondered if anyone had experienced the same frustration.

He sighed once more and closed his eyes. He really hoped that his younger self would make a sensible decision.

* * *

Lucius in 1976 was certainly living upto his future self's expectation. He avoided Hermione at all cost. He stopped going to the library and pretended not to see her in the corridor when he passed her. If he had to say something to her in Potions class, he said it curtly; he ignored her in every other class.

He knew that he was hurting Hermione. He also knew that he was the only friend who knew about her secret, and thus whom she most relied on.

However, he ignored all of these and Hermione's teary eyes. It hurt him, too, but he knew that it was the only way not to get hurt more in the end.

And the Hogsmeade weekend came. Lucius went to the village with Severus and a few other Slytherins, but he and Severus got seperated from the rest of the group in Honeyduke's Sweet Shop. They discussed whether they should go find their friends or go somewhere else by themselves, and finally decided to go to Three Broomsticks, figuring that it would be almost impossible to find someone in this crowd.

When Lucius entered Three Broomsticks, he recognised some familiar faces sitting by the door: James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and…Hermione. He stopped on the spot, causing Severus to bump into his back.

"Ouch, why are you not going in…?"

Then Severus, too, saw the people Lucius was looking at. He made an unpleasant face and turned away; so did Lucius. However, before he made an exit, a sharp voice caught him.

"Lucius!"

It was Hermione.

Lucius froze on the spot for a brief second, but stepped out of the door as if he did not hear her. Severus followed him soon.

"Ah, that's why," said Severus, with his arms folded and the corner of his lips curled. Lucius glanced at him and asked,

"What do you mean?"

"That Grandel girl, you fancy her?"

Lucius did not answer but only glared at his friend coldly.

"Haha, who would have known? A Malfoy taking fancy to—"

"I _do not_ fancy her," said Lucius firmly. "She's…she's…she's a Mublood."

Severus' expression turned cold as Lucius blurted out the last sentence.

"I advised you not to use that term."

Lucius continued his glare, until a cold voice was heard behind him.

"I forgot," said the voice.

Lucius recognised the owner of the voice and immediately turned around; Hermione was standing in front of him, staring at him in anger and disbelief. He felt a cold sweat running down his back.

"Her…Hermione…."

"I forgot what blood runs through my veins."

"I didn't mean—"

"Thank you for reminding me, Malfoy," she said icily. "I was such a fool. How could I have believed that _you_ and _I _could be friends?"

"Hermione, it's not like that—"

Lucius try to hold her wrist but she blocked him.

"Don't touch me!"

"Hermi…"

"Or you will contaminate youself."

Lucius saw hot tears running down her face but did not know what to do.

"Hermione! What's wrong? What happened?"

Lily asked as she ran out from Three Broomsticks; behind her were the Marauders, all looking equally worried as Lily. Hermione looked at them, but did not answer. Instead, she turned her back from them and ran away, merging into the busy crowd of Hogsmeade.

"Snape, what happened? What did you two do to her?" asked James angrily.

Severus looked at him and replied calmly as if it was none of his concerns,

"Lucius called her Mudblood."

"How dare you!"

James seized Lucius by the collar roughly, but Lucius' eyes were still fixed on the direction Hermione disappeared to. His eyes were shadowed as if his soul just got sucked out by a dementor.

Then, suddenly, light came back to his eyes.

He shook off James' hand and started running after Hermione.

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry for the late update! But as you can see, it's the longest chapter, so I hope you will forgive me. It took me so long to write, but it was fun. It seems that I will be extremely busy this semester, so I won't be able to update as much as I'd like to. But don't worry. The story is finished in my head, so it won't be abandoned. And as always, thank you for reading and reviewing!**


	16. Chapter 16: Dare to Love Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its character.**

* * *

Ch. 16 "Dare to Love Me"

"Hermione! Hermione!"

Lucius shouted as he ran desperately to search for the trace of Hermione in the busy crowd of Hogsmeade. He ran until his legs became numb; he shouted until his throat became sore. And at last, he saw a glimpse of the familiar bushy brown hair in the corner of his eyes. He turned around, and there was Hermione who was leaning on a tree, sobbing softly.

"Hermione," said Lucius as he approached her silently.

She started, and when she found out who called her name, her eyes became cold.

"Get out of my sight," she hissed.

Lucius felt something tight forming inside his chest, but he swallowed and said,

"Hermione, I…I came to apologise."

Her eyes widened at his words but turned cold again. She snorted and said,

"Then call me a Mudblood behind my back?"

"No! I—"

"It's okay, _Lucius_. I understand," she said sarcastically. "You felt obligated because I saved you in the forest, didn't you? Forget it. You paid your debt when you brought me back to the castle. You didn't have to associate with me after that."

"Hermione, listen to me," said Lucius earnestly.

Hermione smirked but nodded her head. Lucius continued,

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you that, really. It was a mistake" —Hermione snorted again— "I was just…Severus was there…and I was just…"

"Just what?" snapped Hermione.

"…Afraid," replied Lucius as if he was whispering.

Hermione's eyes widened again at this unexpected answer, but she broke into cold laughter.

"Haha, afraid? Oh, Lucius, be honest now, can you? Say you were _ashamed_! Ashamed that you were friends with me! Ashamed of my heritage!"

Lucius bit his bottom lip. The situation was getting more tangled up as he spoke another word. He was not sure how he was going to handle it.

"I am _not _ashamed of your heritage, Hermione," he said firmly, and Hermione stopped her laugh.

"Then why?" she asked. "Then why did you call me in the word that you knew that would hurt me? Why did you stop talking to me? Why did you ignore me when you saw me in the corridor?"

Her voice was getting higher and higher, and she seemed to be holding back her tears. Lucius felt as if her every word was a knife slicing his heart into pieces.

"Why, Lucius? Why? If you were not ashamed of me, why did you do this? What were you afraid of?"

"I was afraid of…you leaving me," said Lucius at last in a trembling voice. "I had to detach my feeling, Hermione, I had to. I had to deny you."

Hermione looked confused by his answer. Her anger calmed down a little bit, but she did not look convinced by what he told her.

"But why? I don't understand! It's not like we are never going to see each other again. After twenty-one years…"

"After twenty-one years."

"I know it's a long time, but…why? Why would you want to ruin our good memories because of that?"

Lucius avoided her eyes.

"Answer me! Or I'll think you're just trying to trick me again!"

Lucius closed his eyes. He came this far; he could not go back anymore. He opened his eyes and said in a quiet, but clear voice,

"Because I love you."

Then he looked into Hermione's eyes; a pair of brown, shaking eyes met his.

"…What?" asked Hermione blankly.

"I love you Hermione. I can't hide it anymore."

She gave no response, so he continued.

"I tried to stop my feeling because I knew you were going to leave me one day, but I don't care anymore. I love you."

Hermione still did not respond, and a long silence passed between them. Hermione seemed to be having a difficulty of processing what she has just heard. And after a few minutes— which felt like a few hours to Lucius— she finally opened her mouth.

"Lucius…that's not possible…you can't…I mean, you can't…it's…"

"Why not?"

"I'm not from this time. I have to go back to the future! And…and…"

She seemed to be hesitating to spit out her next words, but finally she did.

"I'm a Muggle-born."

Her eyes turned cold again as she said the last words. Lucius sighed and stepped closer to Hermione. She stepped back but he grabbed her shoulders before she could go further. He lowered his head and stared into her eyes; she trembled but did not avoid staring back at him.

"I've seen your blood, Hermione," said Lucius in a low voice. "And it was the same as mine; same colour, same feel, they even blended together."

Then he rolled up his left sleeve. There was no dark mark yet; only blue veins were seen through his pale skin.

"Same blood runs through our veins. I know it now because I've seen it. What I said before, it was just a denial. I don't give a damn about this pureblood and Mudblood thing anymore."

That was the threshold; Hermione broke out of Lucius' hands and stepped backward.

"I…I can't…" she said in a shaky voice, and then she turned away and started running away from him.

Lucius did not go after her this time. He knew that it would be no use now; he told Hermione how he felt about her, and it was up to her to decide whether she would accept or reject it. He hung his head down and let out another deep sigh.

* * *

Hermione could not walk very well; her legs were shaking out of control. When she finally reached her room, she opened the door and collapsed onto the floor immediately.

'_He loves me. Lucius Malfoy loves me_,' she thought.

It was such an emotional roller coaster for her today. In the morning, she was disappointed to find out that Lucius had already left with his friends; at Hogsmeade, she was delighted to see him coming into Three Broomsticks, although her delight soon turned into fury and sorrow. Then Lucius came after her, to apologise, to explain his behaviour and…tell her about his feeling toward her. It all happened in one day.

She was extremely confused about all of these. Who could have imagined that Lucius Malfoy would fall in love with her? With Hermione Granger!

She still had a vivid memory about the battle at the Ministry and being tortured at Malfoy Manor. Then, he was her enemy; she, a scum to him. And now, he was confessing his love to her, saying that he does not care about her heritage anymore. She buried her face in her arms.

Then someone knocked on her door.

"Who is it?"

"Hermione? It's Lily. Can I come in?"

As soon as Hermione opened the door, she found herself in Lily's tight embrace.

"Oh, thank Merlin. You were back. We searched for you everywhere and Remus thought that you might have gone back to the school, so we came back…"

"Lily, Lily! I can't breathe!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Lily as she let go off Hermione.

"It's okay," said Hermione smiling, but Lily saw the trace of tears on her face. She hugged her again and patted on her back.

"Hermione, just forget it. It's not worth crying over. Malfoy is just a—"

"It's not about that," said Hermione.

"Huh? Then why were you crying?"

Hermione hesitated whether to tell Lily about the incident or not. She nibbled on her lips, and finally made up her mind.

"Let's sit down first," she said as she sat down on her bed; Lily sat next to her.

"Tell me, what's bothering you if it's not about Malfoy?"

"Well, it still is about Lucius, actually. But not about what happened in front of Three Broomsticks."

"Did you meet him? He ran after you."

"Yeah, he came to apologise me, and he said…that he loves me."

"What?!" exclaimed Lily as she almost jumped onto her feet. "He said he loves you?"

Hermione nodded her head.

"But he's Malfoy! He's _a_ Malfoy! He hates Muggle-borns—"

"I know, Lily. I know. But he told me that he does not care about this blood thing anymore."

Lily's mouth hung open; she stared at the wall blankly, and then turned to Hermione.

"This is incredible. At first, I thought you and Malfoy becoming friends was incredible, but this is…wow."

Then Lily's face suddenly darkened.

"What's wrong, Lily?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking…what if…_he_ had told me the same thing…. Then we would still be good friends…."

Lily seemed as if she was talking to herself, but Hermione knew exactly whom she was talking about. Harry told Ron and her that Lily and Severus used to be best friends, and of course, about the event that ended their friendship.

This made Hermione realise how much Lucius must have struggled to admit his feeling. Not only she was from the future, but also she was a Muggle-born, an untouchable to the Slytherins, and especially to the Malfoys. He changed his perspectives because of her.

'_Lucius said he loves me. He said he does not care about my blood…_' thought Hermione, and without even realising, a teardrop rolled down on her cheek.

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't know…" replied Hermione as she wiped her face. "I'm just so confused…so sorry to Lucius…"

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because…I can't be with him."

Lily stared at Hermione with concerned eyes, and asked,

"Hermione, do you love Lucius?"

"What?"

"Please answer my question. Do you love Lucius Malfoy?"

"I…I never really thought about it…I never imagined this to happen. He's a good friend but…"

"But you said you are sorry because you can't be with him."

"What are you talking about, Lily?"

"You didn't say that you are sorry because you don't love him. You said because you can't be with him."

At Lily's words, Hermione felt as if her eyes suddenly opened to a new light. She remembered how much she loved spending time with him in the library; his smile (although it was rare); his voice when he called her name; the way his blond hair shined under the sun —then she realised that she was in love with him.

"I…do love him," said Hermione, and Lily grinned widely at her.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go tell him!"

"But I can't."

"Why?" asked Lily.

Hermione bit her lips. How could she tell Lily that she is from the future and must leave here someday? While Hermione was hesitating, the curiosity in Lily's eyes grew.

"Hermione? Do you have anything you want to tell me?"

"I…have to leave here someday," said Hermione in a trembling voice. "I can't stay here long."

"What? What are you talking about? You never told me that. Where are you going?"

"It's…it's very far from here. And I'm not coming back."

A look of worry appeared on Lily's face.

"Are you going back to the place where you came from?"

"Yes. I won't be able to see you guys again. Ever."

Silence occupied the room for a long time. Then Lily spoke,

"Why did you never tell me this?"

"I'm sorry, Lily, but I couldn't. I was afraid that you would treat me differently if I'd told you."

Lily nodded as if she understood what Hermione meant, but then she shook her head.

"Hermione, you are a Gryffindor, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," answered Hermione.

Lily put her hand on Hermione's shoulder and said,

"Then why are you so afraid of everything? Where is your Gryffindor courage? Lucius loves you, and you love him. If you don't tell him your feeling now, you will probably never have a chance!"

"But—"

"I hid my feeling for James for three years because I was afraid that his interest in me would soon go away if I told him that I liked him too. Finally in the seventh year, I realised that there was not much time left. And look at us now—it turned out great!"

"Lily…"

"Go, Hermione. Tell Lucius how you feel and make the best memories while you stay here."

Hermione could not just sit there anymore. She hugged Lily and whispered her 'Thank you,' then headed to the place that she knew where Lucius would be waiting.

* * *

It was almost half past eight, and there was only few people left in the library. Lucius looked out the window to see the sky turning blue. Then a voice was heard behind from him.

"I knew you would be here."

He turned around. It was Hermione.

'_She must have cried a lot_,' thought Lucius; the redness around Hermione's eyes was still very visible.

"Hi."

Then he looked down at his shoes to conceal his embarrassment. He did not regret telling her how he felt in Hogsmeade today, but what made him embarrassed was that he behaved so impulsively; he had never lost control over him like he did today. He realised how much he was being influenced by Hermione.

"How are you this evening?" asked Hermione.

"Fine," he replied. "How are you?"

"I'm angry," said Hermione.

"Hermione, if you are still mad at me…"

"I didn't say I'm angry at you, Lucius."

"Who are you talking about…"

Then Lucius noticed that Hermione was smiling.

"Hermione?"

"I'm angry at myself."

"…Why?"

"Because I made you suffer by not realising your feeling about me and…" —her smile grew wider as she said the last words— "and my own feeling about you."

Lucius felt as if something was stuck in his throat. He could not say anything but just watch Hermione coming closer to him and say,

"I love you, too, Lucius."

"Hermione…"

"Do you still dare to love me?"

Lucius did not answer. Instead, he brought his lips to Hermione's and kissed her passionately. The thought that Madame Pince might pop up at any moment did not even occurred to him. He only wanted to seal Hermione's mouth before she could say anything else. She said that she loved him, and that was the only thing he wanted to hear now.

Hermione pulled back to take a breath; then she looked at him and asked,

"I take that as 'Yes'?"

Lucius smiled and pinched her cheek lightly.

"You're such a little devil."

Then he whispered softly into her ear,

"Of course I do."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for waiting patiently! I hope this chapter was worth enough your waiting:) The next chapter will probably be the last chapter, and I will start another LM/HG story soon after that. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!**


	17. Chapter 17: Back in the Future

Ch. 17 Back in the Future

Two weeks passed quickly just like a midsummer night's dream; it was sweet and happy, just like what a midsummer night's dream should be. Lucius and Hermione spent every moment possible together, despite the reactions from other students—the Marauders could not hide the horror on their faces when they first encountered the sight of Lucius and Hermione holding hands in front of them. Even after Lily and Hermione's long and detailed explanation of what had happened, they were still suspicious of Lucius' hidden intention; only Lupin seemed to understand it a little. Nevertheless, Hermione decided not to care about what other people thought of them, and so did Lucius. At first his fellow Slytherins thought that he was planning some kind of cruel joke on Hermione; however, later they realised that they couldn't be more wrong. Although the Slytherins stopped talking to Lucius, nobody dared to any harm to a member of the Malfoy family or to his girlfriend. Therefore, surprisingly, Lucius and Hermione faced very little hindrance to their relationship, unlike what they had expected.

And their Polyjuice potion was finally finished and Slughorn gave them the highest mark in the class.

"What an exemplary outcome! I have never seen such perfection from any of the students I had in my entire career!" exclaimed Slughorn, which made Lily pout slightly. (But she was very happy for Hermione.)

After the Potions class, Lucius and Hermione enjoyed the Sun, lying beneath the big tree beside the lake just like they would do on any other fine day. Suddenly, Lily rushed toward them and gave Hermione a piece of parchment folded in half.

"The headmaster told me to give it to you," said Lily.

Hermione opened the parchment, which read,

'_Everything is ready, Miss Grandel. Please come to my office at eight o' clock tonight. The password is "Lemon Sherbet."'_

Hermione almost stopped breathing. She was finally going home. To the future— to her friends—to _her_ Hogwarts!

However, the excitement soon faded away when she heard the voice of Lucius asking,

"What's the matter, Hermione?"

She realised that going back to the future also meant saying goodbye to Lucius—to Lily and the Marauders—and to _this _Hogwarts. Lucius saw the expression on her face and hurriedly read the parchment. His face turned paler than usual.

"Does this mean…does this mean you are leaving tonight?" He asked in a low voice, and Hermione nodded silently.

"What do you mean, Hermione? I didn't know that you were leaving so soon!" exclaimed Lily in shock.

"Me neither," replied Hermione, looking confused.

"You still won't tell me where you're going?"

"I'm sorry, Lily. I can't."

Lily sighed in disappointment but she shrugged her shoulders and said,

"Well, I guess I can't force you say it…."

"Lily, you've been such a great friend to me ever since I came here. I will never forget you," said Hermione earnestly.

Lily stared at Hermione for awhile, then suddenly smiled, shaking her head. Hermione and Lucius looked and her curiously.

"You know, Hermione. It's quite funny….I have only known you for about two months. But now I feel like you are inseparable.… I don't know…there is just something about you that makes me feel so close to you…."

"I think I know what that is," replied Hermione, thinking of her best friend who has the exact same green eyes of Lily.

* * *

At eight o' clock sharply, Hermione and Lucius were in front of Dumbledore's office. Hermione raised her hand to knock on the door, but suddenly she stopped and chuckled. Lucius asked,

"Is something funny?"

Hermione shook her head, still chuckling, and replied,

"Well, if you think about it, it is kind of funny."

It only made Lucius raise his eyebrows.

"You see, you are the very first person I encountered when I came here…and now, you are here with me on my last day here…."

"Hermione…."

"I just thought that was kind of interesting," said Hermione. Then she knocked on the door three times.

"Come in," said the voice of Dumbledore behind the door.

When Hermione and Lucius walked into the room, Dumbledore was standing in front of his desk, waiting for them.

"I knew you would come, too," said Dumbledore, staring at Lucius with his twinkling blue eyes.

"I am sorry, sir. I asked him to come with me," said Hermione hurriedly, worrying that Lucius might get into a trouble because of this.

"It is alright, Miss Grandel. He is the one who discovered you on the first day, so it is natural that he should bid farewell to you on the last day."

Dumbledore's words made Hermione realise that it really was her last day in the past, and, the last day with Lucius. She felt her eyes getting hot, but she succeeded in holding back her tears. Lucius put his arm on her shoulder held her close.

Dumbledore took out the familiar gold chain from his pocket and put it on the desk.

"Now, if my future self remembers what he's supposed to do…"

Before he even finished the sentence, a blue glow suddenly surrounded the chain—it had turned into a Portkey.

Hermione let out a short squeal without knowing it herself, and Lucius held her tighter.

"It is time for you to go, Miss Grandel," said Dumbledore.

Hermione nodded her head and stepped forward, but then turned to Lucius.

"I have to go now, Lucius."

"I know," he said quietly. He seemed to be holding back his emotions that might burst out any second.

They locked eyes with each other in silence, and the time seemed to have stopped for a moment, just for them. Hermione broke off the stare at last and whispered to Lucius softly as she held his hand.

"Will you promise me one thing?"

"Anything," replied Lucius, unable to take his eyes off of her.

Hermione bit her lips. Her grip on his hand became tighter. And she finally said,

"Please remember me."

Then she let go of Lucius' hand and grabbed the glowing gold chain—she disappeared without leaving a single trace; only Lucius and Dumbledore were remaining in the room.

Lucius eyed the gold chain, which lost its blue glow now. He touched the chain as if it were a sacred thing, then he murmured to himself,

"I will."

* * *

Hermione felt the familiar unpleasant pulling sensation behind the navel as her feet departed from the floor. As her body swirled around in the pool of time and space, she thought that time traveling through a Portkey was definitely worse than through a Time-turner. When this sensation stopped and her feet landed on the ground, she opened her eyes that she tightly closed. The first thing that caught her eyes was a pair of black shoes. Then she heard,

"Hermione! You're back!"

Hermione looked up; the owner of the voice (and the shoes) was a lean boy with messy black hair wearing glasses. She stared at his face as if she could not believe who was in front of her.

"Harry? You're…you're not James, right?"

"James? You mean my dad? You've met him in the past?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Merlin, you _are _Harry! It means I'm back? Back to 1998?"

"Yes, you are back, Hermione!" said another voice. When Hermione turned around, she saw the familiar face with flaming red hair; it was Ron.

"Ron!"

She hugged Ron and Harry tightly as if she would be taken away to the past again if she didn't. Then Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked back and found Draco standing there with his usual smirk on his face. However, she could see that the emotion behind that smirk was a different one from what he had toward Hermione before. Hermione, leaving Harry and Ron who were glaring at Draco for interrupting their moment, took his hand and shook it with a big smile on her face.

"I missed you, Draco."

The expression appeared on Harry and Ron's face was priceless.

"Ahem."

A dry cough cooled down the excited mood inside the room. It was McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall!" exclaimed Hermione with joy but then quickly apologised, "I am terribly sorry. I forgot that it was your office now. I've made too much fuss…"

McGonagall smiled and shook her head.

"It is alright, Miss Granger—_this addressing assured Hermione that she was indeed back in her time_—. I understand how happy you and your friends must be, and personally, I am, too."

Hermione smiled back at McGonagall, and as she did, she noticed that there was another person in the room, behind McGonagall.

"Good to see you again, Miss Granger."

His voice has not changed even after over 20 years. Hermione felt her heart tightening, with both excitement and despair. The person stepped beside McGonagall and revealed himself fully—it was Lucius Malfoy.

"Lu…Mr. Malfoy." Hermione struggled to force her words out of her mouth. She couldn't really hear anything but knew that her voice was trembling.

The tightening sensation in her heart increased. Hermione was worried—_Does he remember me? Does he remember the feelings he had for me?_ What made her worried more was Lucius Malfoy's icy blue eyes, which were exactly same as the last time she saw him in her time.

"Err…" Hermione didn't know what to say but felt like she had to say something. Lucius solved her confusion by saying,

"I believe we needa private conversation, between you and me."

"Yes, we do," said Hermione, almost gasping.

Now the people in McGonagall's office—Harry, Ron, Draco and the previous headmasters in the portraits—were looking at them curiously. Only McGonagall seemed to have sensed that something was going on between the two of them in the past. She nodded her head to them, and upon that, Hermione and Lucius stepped out of the room. They found an empty classroom and went inside. After castingMuffliato charm and making sure that there was no ghost around, they began their long-awaited conversation.

"Err…Mr. Malfoy?" asked Hermione timidly. Lucius looked at her, which made Hermione forget what she was going to say. She felt like she was stupid.

"I've kept my promise, Hermione," said Lucius. "I remember you."

His voice echoed in the empty classroom. Hermione looked at Lucius hopefully, but her hope failed her at his next words.

"But this is the end. This is the end of our _past_."

Hermione's deep brown eyes met Lucius' blue ones emptily. She was not sure how things were going to unfold when she came back, but she was not prepared for_ this_. Her sentiments about Lucius were still as fresh as when she told him to remember her— which seemed like only a moment ago to her, although it was 21 years in reality. Lucius continued.

"I know it must be hard for you to accept it. I am not the seventeen-year old boy anymore. I have grown old. I have a family—I have a wife and a son."

"It is…" said Hermione, trying to hold back her tears. "It is hard to accept, indeed."

"Hermione…."

"Of course, I didn't expect to be together with you when I came back…it's impossible…. But it's just that…it seemed like only a moment ago when you were…you were…" — A drop of tear finally ran down her cheek— "…so dear to me…and now it is all over…."

"It was 21 years for me. To me, you are just a memory now," said Lucius. "And perhaps, I—to you."

* * *

Hermione was by the lake in the schoolyard. The classes haven't ended yet, so she was all by herself—or so she thought.

"Hey."

She looked back and saw that Draco was standing there.

"Hey," she replied.

"What are you doing here all by yourself? Where's my father?" asked Draco as he sat down beside her.

"What are _you_ doing here? Aren't you supposed to be back in class now?"

"Well, sometimes people don't do what they are supposed to do."

Hermione smiled lightly at his words but soon returned to her solemn face and said,

"Or sometimes people _do_ things that they know they shouldn't do."

"Such as?" asked Draco with a heightened interest in his voice, but Hermione did not answer to his question. Instead, she put her face on her hands and remained silent for awhile.

"Has something happened in the past between you and my father?"

Hermione turned her face to Draco but with her mouth still closed firmly.

"What happened between you and him?" he urged her for an answer, and she finally gave in with a light sigh.

"I fell in love with him in the past."

"You _what?"_

"I fell in love with Lucius Malfoy in the past," replied Hermione calmly, disregarding Draco's horrified face; he stared at her with his eyes and mouth wide open, looking as if he had lost how to speak.

"How could you?" asked Draco after struggling for some time to retrieve his sense. "I mean…with my father? That is just…unbelievable!"

"He was not your father," said Hermione, still maintaining her calm attitude; however, there was a hint of gloom in her voice.

"What do you mean?"

"He was Lucius Malfoy—seventeen years old, still so young and inexperienced about many things...needing someone beside him…and had courage to stand for what he believed right no matter what others said about him."

"Well, that certainly isn't my father," snorted Draco. "Lucius Malfoy I know doesn't have the word "courage" in his vocabulary."

"Draco…"

"He probably wanted to dance with joy when he saw you came back. No more ruin to the family name—no more talking behind his back—that's the only thing he cares about."

"You're wrong, Draco," said Hermione firmly, which made Draco look at her with curious eyes.

"And why is it so?"

In her effort to answer his question, Hermione had to recall the latter part of the conversation with Lucius she just had now.

* * *

"Perhaps you are right," said Hermione, surprised by the fact that what Lucius just had said cleared her head; nonetheless, there were still tears in her eyes. "Perhaps we are just memories to each other. Perhaps…you are not the Lucius Malfoy that I loved anymore…."

"The time I spent with you will remain as the happiest moment in my entire school year," said Lucius with a smile so tiny that Hermione almost didn't notice. "You made me smile. You showed me…"—_he seemed to be struggling to let out the next sentence, but he succeeded at last_—"…what it was like to be loved."

"Lucius…."

"It was the first time, Hermione. Not once in my family, not once in my House, and _you_…showed me that." This time, his smile was more obvious.

Hermione sighed with a smile, but her face was smudged with traces of tears. She put her hand on her forehead and asked,

"How should I end it, then? How should I forget you…no, _him_…?"

"You are not alone anymore, Hermione," said Lucius as he put his hand on her shoulder; Hermione looked up. "You have friends now—friends that you can talk to."

Hermione's face suddenly lightened up with new hope. Yes, she had friends here now. She was not lost anymore but found. Even if she was separated from _her_ Lucius, she was together with them.

"Yes, I do….Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hagrid…and your son, Draco."

Lucius started a little at her mentioning his son's name, which he didn't seem to expect at all. The dispute he had with Draco over Hermione's missing was still clear in his mind and made him uncomfortable, even after apologizing for his behaviour; he felt as if he did not do it right.

"Lucius?"

Hermione's voice woke him up from the uncomfortable memories that were swarming into his head again.

"Yes?"

"Draco loves you. You know that, right?" said Hermione, but she saw that Lucius was struggling to agree with her. She wrapped her hand around his hand that was still placed on her shoulder; it was cold.

"You just need to show him how much he loves you. You don't want to repeat your history, do you?"

"What if he hates me already?" asked Lucius with uncertainty in his voice.

"No, he doesn't. I know," replied Hermione as she shook her head. "And even if he does, hatred can be conquered by love. Aren't we the proof of that fact?"

Lucius' stiffened face was finally relaxed a little bit at her words, and his hand was warm again. They locked their eyes just as they did before 21 years ago; icy blue and warm brown eyes met and melted in each other. Then they kissed—a goodbye kiss, which confirmed Hermione that their relationship really was finished. A drop of tear fell from her eye, but surprisingly, she was not as sad as before and felt more confident about adapting to her time again.

* * *

"Your father loves you very much, Draco," said Hermione, feeling sorry for Draco as she did for Lucius 21 years ago. However, his face showed that he was not convinced by her.

"He's just not good at expressing his feelings," added Hermione. "Believe me."

Draco shrugged his shoulders and laid back on the ground.

"I don't know," said he with his facial expression unchanged.

"Draco—"

"But you seem to know him better than I do. So yeah, I guess I will believe you for now."

"That's right, Draco. Believing each other—that's what friends do," said Hermione with a big smile on her face. Draco sat upright suddenly and looked at her. Then he asked,

"Are we still friends?"

"What do you mean 'still'?" asked Hermione although she guessed what Draco was thinking. Draco hung his head and stared at the ground, fidgeting with grass on the ground.

"I mean…now you are back and have Potter and Weasley with you….You don't need to be friends with me anymore."

"That's not true. You _are_ still my friend, Draco," said Hermione, strongly emphasizing her words. But seeing that he was not fully convinced by her words, she added the next sentence: "And I miss a seventeen-year old Malfoy from the past. Maybe you can take his place instead?"

A smile—not a smirk—spread to Draco's face.

"Perhaps I can do that."

Hermione smiled back at him. There were sound of bells ringing in the air; the classes had ended. She knew that Harry and Ron were probably looking for her now, but for some reason, she wanted to extend her moment with Draco just a little longer.

_-The End-_

_

* * *

_**A/N: I am really sorry that I haven't updated the story for so long. I've been lazy. Thank you so much for waiting for it, and I hope it was worth waiting. Once again, thank you everyone who has read and reviewed my story!**


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